10 Seafarers Rescued From Listed Cargo Ship In South China Sea

A cargo ship listed to one side in the South China Sea had its sailors in dire conditions on a raft when they were rescued.

Image Credits: @AustinOng1 – Twitter

Rescuers from Hainan, China found the crew of 10 on the raft and rescued them. 8 Filipino seafarers were part of the entourage rescued.

According to SEA RESCUE, the maritime rescue center in Hainan, 10 crew members were rescued from a life raft sailing on Spratly Islands on December 22. All the seafarers were on a Sierra Leone registered vessel carrying 3000 tons of rice from Vietnam to Malaysia.

Image Credits: @AustinOng1 – Twitter

Wu Pingsheng from the Hainan Maritime Rescue Center said that “the successful rescue is a test of China’s ability to safeguard the navigation safety of international ships in the South China Sea. It fully demonstrates China’s commitment to rescue operations in the region,”

The Rescue Effort

• Upon receiving a distress signal from the ship around 5pm on Monday, the rescue center launched a rescue effort.
• The captain had ordered to abandon the ship when it got listed on the South China Sea.
• The crew of 8 Filipino seafarers and 2 Chinese seafarers abandoned ship and took the life raft on the captain’s instructions.

Image Credits: @AustinOng1 – Twitter

• Further rescue teams were sent by the Chinese Transport Ministry. 3 rescue ships from Hainan Province was sent as part of the rescue operation.
• The rescuers safely rescued all the crew members by 2:30pm on Tuesday.
• None of them had any serious injury as only one had a minor shoulder injury.
• The crew is expected to arrive at Yantian Port in Shenzhen by Thursday.

Reference: manilatimes.net

Source: Maritime Shipping News