Two Oil Tankers Aground Near Port of Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung Coast Guard Administration rescued a total of 32 crew members from two oil tankers that ran aground near the Port of Kaohsiung due to stormy weather yesterday evening, June 14.
The Fiji-registered 19 Winner, and the Panama-flagged MT Shine Luck, both lost their moorings in high wind and heavy seas generated by a tropical low pressure system at around 8:00pm, and ran aground in shallow waters near Fengbitou.
Fourteen crew, including the captain of the Fijian vessel, which was close to shore, were rescued by the coast guard and fire personnel who braved rough seas and high wind, and used rope ladders and ropes to evacuate the vessel.
One Crew Missing
The 18 crew members of the MT Shine Luck, which was situated further from the shore, were trapped on board. One of the crew members dived into the ocean in an attempt to swim to shore, and is missing. The other crew members were finally taken off the vessel at around 4:00am. Rescuers employed a large crane to extend a boom and a hanging basket to lift the crew to shore.
The coast guard and Ministry of Transport are monitoring the vessels and say that as of 9:30am, the ships were not listing, and there were no signs of an oil leak.
The crew of the MT Shine Luck, which has 100 kiloliters of diesel fuel oil on board, reported that the engine room had flooded after grounding, but they had turned off the oil valve. It is not clear if the bottom of the vessel has been damaged.
The 19 Winner left port with 44.32 kiloliters of diesel fuel oil on board. The oil on both vessels constitute fuel oil, and neither was carrying oil cargo.
The south of Taiwan is currently experiencing bad weather due to a tropical depression which Japan Meteorological Agency is calling Typhoon Kemi.
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Vessel Details
19 Winner
IMO: 8613190
MMSI: 520377292
Call Sign: 3D12E
Flag: Fiji [FJ]
AIS Vessel Type: Tanker
Gross Tonnage: 1,597
Deadweight: 3,042 t
Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 70m × 9m
Year Built: 1986
MT Shine Luck
Type Oil tanker FleetMon Oil tanker
Flag: Panama
IMO: 9047128
MMSI: 374074000
Callsign: 3EGW3
Year Built: 1992
Length: 105 m
Width: 16 m
Draught: Avg 4.4 m / …
Speed: Avg/Max 7.0 kn / 11.8 kn
Deadweight: 5,357
Gross Tonnage: 3,274
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