A Macao cargo ship capsized Tuesday evening at the estuary of
south China's Pearl River, leaving six people missing as of
Wednesday night.
A source with the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of
Communications said the 500-ton ship, with seven on board, came
across with fresh gales and capsized five nautical miles northwest
of Guishan Island at 7:49 PM.
The rescue bureau immediately organized a rescue operation and
picked up one crewmember, a native of Taizhou, Zhejiang
Province, at 9:40 PM.
A helicopter was dispatched from Hong Kong on Wednesday to
assist in rescue efforts, but weather conditions limited its
use.
The other five crew and the captain remained missing as of 8:00
PM Wednesday. Two of the 11 containers on board had been
salvaged.
The unrecovered containers and ship now pose threat to other
vessels in the area.
The Guangdong
provincial maritime rescue center has mobilized many ships to
continue searching for the sailors who remain missing.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn April 14, 2005)