Police to launch enquiry into Oyang 70 sinking

"Tomorrow the Police will begin an enquiry on behalf of the Coroner into the deaths and disappearance of crewmen from this ship which sank in the Southern Ocean yesterday.

"We understand that three crew from the Oyang 70 have died and three are missing." said Detective Senior Sergeant Rae, "We will make enquiries into their deaths on behalf of the local Coroner."

"We know very little about what happened yesterday and it will not be until we speak to the survivors that we will have a clear picture of what happened," he said.

The ship is due at Lyttelton tomorrow and once the condition of the crew has been assessed Police hope to begin speaking to them then.

The crew are made up of Korean, Indonesian and Phillippine Nationals and we will need interpreters to assist with the interviews.

Police do not expect to have a clear picture until all of the interviews have been completed and this is not likely to be the case until next week."