 2017/04/02 10:19 
 
 (ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details throughout; ADDS photo) 
 
 SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) -- Search and rescue efforts are under way to find 22 crew members of a South Korean ship that sank in the South Atlantic last week, after two sailors were safely picked up in a life raft, the Seoul government said Sunday. Two Filipino crew members floating in a life raft were rescued Saturday, but other lifeboats found in the area were empty, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The search for the missing South Korean ship, the Stellar Daisy, began Saturday, one day after the ship's crew sent a text to their South Korean employer, saying their ship was sinking. The very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Daisy was sailing from Brazil to China carrying iron ore when it sent a distress signal to its operator, South Korea’s Polaris Shipping, on Friday, Yonhap said.
– A ship that measures more than 1,000 feet long has vanished in the South Atlantic. The Stellar Daisy departed Rio de Janeiro last Sunday and was bound for China with its load of iron ore. But on Friday, while off Uruguay, the crew texted their South Korean employer to say the 266,000-ton ship was taking on water on the port side, reports Reuters. Commercial ships in the area some 1,500 miles off the coast were made aware of the situation and began searching; two Filipino crew members were found in a life raft. But Yonhap reports that a second raft and two 30-person lifeboats were both found empty, though authorities believe the 22 missing crew members were wearing life vests. "A search operation is continuing for the 22," says a South Korean foreign ministry official. The BBC reports the Uruguayan navy has said ships participating in the search detected the smell of fuel.