Rescuers involved in the missing South Korean ship Stellar Daisy that sank in the South Atlantic last Friday have been continuing their operation in search of survivors.

Only two sailors have currently been rescued from the wrecked ship, which was said to have been carrying 24 crew members. The rescued sailors are of Filipino origin and were found on a life raft.

Stellar Daisy is a very large ore carrier (VLOC) operated by Polaris Shipping, and was carrying 260,000t of iron ore from Brazil to China when it was believed to have broken down nearly 3,700km off the coast of Uruguay.

The Marshall Islands-flagged carrier was not giving any clear signal of its intended destination, and had 16 Filipinos and eight South Korean nationals onboard, the BBC reported.

"Stellar Daisy was carrying 260,000t of iron ore from Brazil to China when it was believed to have broken down nearly 3,700km off the coast of Uruguay."

Uruguayan Navy spokesman Gaston Jaunsolo was quoted by Reuters as saying: “The more hours pass, the less the chances are of finding them.”

Jaunsolo further noted that the ship ripped into two parts and sank, and that authorities are yet to find any cause behind the wreck.

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The two rescued sailors stated that at one point the captain made a call notifying the crew about the entry of water into the ship. The captain also alerted that ship was breaking.

The AFP news agency reported that a Brazilian aircraft, four Korean merchant ships and an Argentine navy ship are currently involved in the search operation.

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