Chinese rescue workers are searching for six seafarers lost after a containership and a sand barge collided off the east coast of Hong Kong, leaving two men dead.
The barge, carrying 14 crew members, capsized after the collision near Tung Lung Island.
It has been reported that seven men were initially pulled from the sea and taken to hospital, where one of them was declared dead. Another body was found this morning.
Chung Siu-man, an Assistant Director at the city’s Marine Department, said rescue divers were trying to reach the sunken vessel, but the current was extremely strong and the ship was not completely grounded on the sea bed.
He said the nine crew members on board the container vessel were unharmed. The cause of the collision remains unknown, but the spokesman said there had been “poor visibility and big waves” at the time.
The collision is the latest in a spate of similar incidents across the world.
Last week five sailors went missing after their cargoship was involved in a collision with a Dutch chemical tanker in the Black Sea, 20km south-east of Cape Emine.
On 23 November, two containerships collided near the entrance to the Hooghly river in West Bengal, India. There was no loss of life and navigation channels were opened shortly after.
In January, a Hong Kong court convicted four seafarers over the deaths of 18 Ukrainian sailors following a collision of Ukrainian tugboat Neftegaz-67 and Chinese cargoship Yaohai in 2008.
Source IFW
