New taipei: The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has reported that a man who went missing earlier this week off New Taipei’s Ruifang District remains unaccounted for. In a separate incident, three female divers were successfully rescued by a fishing vessel.

According to Focus Taiwan, the missing individual, a 37-year-old man surnamed Chuang, was last seen free diving with a married couple off Bitou Cape Park on Wednesday morning. The couple returned to shore around 11 a.m., but Chuang did not surface, leading to a large-scale sea and air search. Despite 72 hours of rescue efforts, Chuang remains missing, and the CGA has stated that personnel will continue to monitor the area during regular patrols.

In a separate incident, the CGA reported that three female divers went missing in waters off New Taipei’s Gongliao District on Saturday at 10:44 a.m. They were rescued at sea by a fishing vessel at 11:42 a.m. The women, identified by their last names Liu, Yang, and Lai, had entered the water around 8:40 a.m. with
an instructor surnamed Sung, who alerted police when they did not return to shore.

The CGA stated that Liu, Yang, and Lai had drifted to an area near fishing nets, which they held on to until they were rescued by a fishing vessel. The women were unharmed and did not require medical treatment. The vessel safely transported them to Shicheng Fishing Harbor in Yilan County.