SOS message in bottle from long-lost Taiwanese fishing captain found in Ireland

An SOS message in a bottle, believed to be from the Taiwanese captain of the missing fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18, has been discovered on the west coast of Ireland.

The vessel and its 10 crew members, including the captain surnamed Lee, have been missing for over four years, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The ship, registered in Suao, vanished near Hawaii on December 30, 2020. Although the vessel was later recovered drifting at sea, all crew members remain unaccounted for.

A man and his friend found the bottle in a rock pool on Inis Oirr Island (Inisheer), containing a note signed with the Chinese character for Lee.

The message, partly written in Indonesian, was translated on Reddit as: “Please send help, we have been lost since December. 20, there are three of us here, we don’t know the name of this island, we are injured.” It also included “help hello SOS” and “Yong Yu Sing 18” in English.

Lee’s wife reported the vessel missing after losing contact on December 30, 2020. The ship’s owner sought assistance from the Suao Fishery Communication Radio Station on January 1, 2021.

Tracking suggested the ship went missing near Midway Atoll, Hawaii. A US aircraft later found the vessel drifting, but the crew was nowhere to be found.

The vessel was towed back to Suao port in a record-setting 18,250 km journey lasting 57 days.

By Aghakazim Guliyev