Box feeder, barge collide in HK, 2 dead, 6 feared drowned

Time:2010-12-09 Browse:39 Author:RISINGSUN

EIGHT are feared dead after a mainland sand barge collided with a short-sea containership and sank off Tung Lung Island east of Hong Kong Island in high winds, the Hong Kong Marine Department reported.

Two bodies have been recovered, six were picked up from choppy seas by police shortly after their 75-metre barge overturned, throwing them into the water after 3am.


Two bodies were found and six others were asleep below when the accident took place in what is described as the worst marine accident since March 2008, when a Ukrainian tug collided with a mainland bulk carrier off Lantau Island leaving 18 dead, and resulting in the imprisonment of the two captains involved, reported the South China Morning Post.


Air and sea search and rescue operations were still under way yesterday in hope of finding the six missing crew - five men and one woman. The Marine Department is undertaking a full investigation. More than 15 police launches and fireboats and three helicopters were deployed.


The Runz 001 barge was bound for Yan Tian in Mirs Bay from Fu Yong, in western Shenzhen with a crew of 14 - 13 men and one woman. Unhurt were nine crew aboard the 50-metre Hui Jin Qiao 08 container feeder. The vessel put into Chai Wan public pier for inspection.


The feeder, bound for Shantou in eastern Guangdong had come from the Tsing Yi container terminal and was supposed to be heading east, but was found to be heading south at the time of the collision, said an official.


"The route and direction were not the cause of the accident," an official said, according to the SCMP. "It [is considered] open sea and there is no fixed shipping channel."


The barge capsized and drifted 500 metres to the southeast before sinking, about five hours later, and was found in 22 metres of water. Twenty Fire Services divers tried to break into the cabins.


"The wind was strong, underwater visibility was only one to two metres and the wreckage was only semi-submerged. The operation is extremely difficult," said Leung Chi-wang, acting marine divisional commander of the Fire Services.


More than 20 divers had went into the water. Seven men were plucked from the water by marine police. None wore life jackets. Six were conscious and the seventh, the 50-year-old barge captain, was unconscious and died in hospital.


One rescued seaman was in stable condition in Eastern Hospital and the other five were discharged.