A Chinese oil tanker sank after colliding with a foreign container ship offshore Xiamen in east China early Thursday morning, with no casualties reported.
China Maritime Safety Administration said Thursday that all the 22 crewmembers on the ship have been rescued. The foreign container ship suffered only minor damage and incurred no casualties.
Local maritime safety authorities in Xiamen has set up a panel to investigate into the accident.
The capsized tanker, Yunhong, was owned by the Yunhong Shipping Company of Yueqing, Wenzhou, in east China. It collided with the Greek-registered container ship Edinburgh, that was leaving the port six nautical miles south of Xiamen at 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
The Yunhong's engines failed and the vessel's below-deck chambers began to fill with water, forcing the crew to abandon the ship.
Upon receiving an emergency signal, Chinese maritime safety authorities dispatched six salvage vessels to the site of accident. By 1:49 a.m. Thursday, all the 22 crewmembers had been pulled from the water.
The Edinburgh suffered only minor damage and is docked near the site of accident. It weighs 55,889 tons and carries 3,000 TEUs.
The Yunhong, with a carrying capacity of 8,800 tons, was carrying 8,600 tons of diesel oil, and it completely sank at 7:00 a.m.
The Chinese authorities have sent two ships to monitor the site of accident and prevent possible leakage of diesel from the downed vessel. So far, no oil leakage has been found. The Xiamen maritime authorities are preparing to remove the diesel oil from the ship to other carriers, sources said.
(People’s Daily 09/20/2001)
