Investigators are still trying to determine how a 76-meter cruise liner traveling in the Yangtze River on Thursday ran aground near Chongqing.

Salvage workers attempted on Friday to secure Galaxy II, a five-floor vessel originally with 163 passengers and crewmembers on board, and stop it moving into the middle of the river.

Zhou Hongwu, an on-scene co-coordinator from a salvage company in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, said the ship might have veered away from the charted route due to improper operation.

No casualties or injuries were reported, as the ship, now slightly tilted, rests on its bow with its bulk bending downward.

In the early hours on Thursday, the ship, sailing from Yichang in foggy conditions, suddenly deviated from its cruise route and struck underlying rocks.

"Its bulk was pierced and the passenger compartment was flooded in minutes, causing a thorough blackout and engine failure," Zhou said on Friday in a telephone interview.

About 90 passengers, mostly from Germany, were evacuated in ships responding to the scene after Galaxy II sent signals for help.

"Now the ship is almost scrapped," Zhou said.

He also said the rocks are now visible as the water has receded by about two meters.

As the ship was stranded quite near the bank, river traffic has not been affected.

"We are trying to secure the vessel and prevent it from moving to the center of the river," another on-scene co-coordinator Li Shengjiang told China Daily.

He said that the Yangtze River is still in the flooding season and the vessel might drift inward as the river rises.

He also said they will only pull the vessel out of water in October.

Personnel from the vessel's company told China Daily on Friday that the tourists, organized by different travel agencies, had already left Chongqing to continue their sight-seeing in other cities.

(China Daily September 3, 2005)