China vowed Tuesday to spare no efforts to find the 16 sailors
missing after a Republic of Korea (ROK) vessel collided with a
container ship and sank off east China's coast Saturday
morning.
Eight of the 16 sailors are ROK nationals, seven are from
Myanmar, and one is Indonesian.
Battling winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour, Chinese
rescuers on Tuesday enlarged the search area off the coast of
Yantai City, Shandong Province, according to a spokesman
with China's Ministry of Communications.
More than 200 Chinese ships and three aircraft have joined the
search mission, and China has contacted ROK authorities to send
additional rescue boats and coast guard vessels, the spokesman
said.
Relatives of the missing ROK sailors arrived in Yantai on
Tuesday, the spokesman added.
"We will not give up (our efforts) as long as there is a ray of
hope," Han Lupeng, deputy director of the Yantai Maritime Affairs
Bureau, told the families.
The ROK ship "Golden Rose" sank after colliding with the Saint
Vincent-registered "Jinsheng," a container ship operated by
Shandong Lufeng Shipping Company Ltd. The collision occurred around
3:00 AM in fog on Saturday.
The "Golden Rose," loaded with 5,900 tons of steel, was en route
from northeast China's Liaoning Province to ROK, while the
"Jinsheng" was sailing from Yantai to Liaoning's port city of
Dalian.
After the accident, the "Jinsheng" continued to steam toward
port, arriving at Dayao Bay in Dalian at 2:50 PM on Saturday. It is
not known why the container ship failed to stop and help the
damaged vessel.
The Yantai Maritime Affairs Bureau received the collision report
from the Shandong Lufeng Shipping Company Ltd. at 11:40 AM on
Saturday, and company officials said the "Jinsheng" had no contact
with the "Golden Rose" before or after the collision, according to
Luo Yonghong, deputy director of the Navigation Department with the
Yantai bureau.
"Normally, maritime affairs authorities are informed as soon as
a sea accident occurs. This case is obviously an exception, because
we did not receive any information immediately after the accident,"
Han Lupeng said.
According to international maritime practice, a ship must always
go to the rescue of a stricken vessel and also send out SOS
signals, but both ships failed to do so, according to the
official.
"Chinese authorities are puzzled about exactly what happened,"
Han said.
The crew of the "Jinsheng" is currently being questioned by
investigators from the Liaoning Maritime Affairs Bureau and ship
operators are being questioned in Shandong.
State Councilor Hua Jianmin has demanded "an all-out effort" to
find the missing sailors.
The area where ship sank was identified on Monday afternoon,
pinpointed at 38 degrees 14.45 minutes north latitude, 121 degrees
41.92 minutes east longitude, according to the Shandong Marine
Affairs Bureau.
The ship is now lying on its side 47 meters under the sea, the
bureau said.
Chinese rescuers have found two life rafts, four life rings,
traces of fuel oil and other debris that are confirmed to be from
the "Golden Rose," but there is still no trace of the missing
sailors.
Experts said that with an average sea temperature in the area of
the collision of about 13.6 degrees Celsius, the chances of
survival two days after the accident are slim.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Tuesday
that China would settle issues concerning the tragedy in accordance
with international pacts and laws, driven by a responsible and
humanitarian spirit.
"As long as there is one percent hope for the survival of the
missing sailors, China will exert one hundred percent effort in the
rescue work," she told a regular press conference.
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2007)