Tugboat racing against typhoon after Chinese cargo ship abandoned by crew off Taiwan’s north coast
A Chinese cargo ship was abandoned by its crew less than one kilometer from the coast of northern Taiwan last night, and has been left at anchor as a typhoon approaches the island today, October 30.
The platform cargo ship Yuzhou Qihang left Keelung Harbor at around 8:00 am yesterday, in an attempt to cross the Taiwan Strait ahead of the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey. However, the top-heavy vessel, loaded with three massive bridge cranes, failed to make headway in high winds and heavy waves after leaving the safety of the harbor.
By afternoon, the Yuzhou Qihang remained only a few nautical miles from the harbor entrance, and just 0.6 nautical miles off shore at Yehliu, a popular scenic spot on the coast in New Taipei City. As weather conditions deteriorated, the crew of the ship dropped both anchors to prevent the ship drifting to shore
The shipping company requested the assistance of a tugboat, and Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration dispatched two patrol boats to stand guard and monitor the beleaguered vessel.
In the early evening, the captain decided to abandon ship. The coast guard dispatched the 100-ton patrol boat PP-10050 to rescue the 17 crew members on the Yuzhou Qihang. Video footage showed a difficult rescue operation with the two vessels rising and falling in five-meter swells, and gale-force winds hampering efforts to disembark the crew. The rescue mission was finally completed at 9:40 pm.
Taiwan’s maritime authorities expressed concern about possible safety risks if the 9,000-ton ship were to drift onto the rocky coast. The crippled ship is located close to the Yehliu National Scenic Area, fishing ports, and a seawater-cooled nuclear power plant.
An 18,000-ton tugboat, dispatched from China, is scheduled to arrive at around 4:00 pm, today, Wednesday, but is racing against Typhoon Kong-rey, which is approaching from the opposite direction on a trajectory to make landfall in southeastern Taiwan.
This is not the first time the Yuzhou Qihang has made headlines in Taiwan. On October 14, the ship arrived in Keelung Harbor carrying new bridge cranes. One of the cranes on board collided with a crane on shore, knocking it over and crushing five containers.
Typhoon Kong-rey
The Central Weather Administration issued a maritime and land warning for Typhoon Kong-rey at 5:30 am today, Wednesday, noting that the storm was continuing to intensify and increase in size, and is expected to make landfall south of Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast.
At 6:00 am, Kong-rey was located 540 kilometers southeast of Point Eluanbi, moving northwest at a speed of 14 kilometers per hour. Maximum wind speeds near the center are 48 meters per second, and the storm radius of Beaufort-scale 7 and above winds is around 300 kilometers wide.
Kong-rey is expected to most severely affect Taiwan’s weather from tonight to Friday. The land warning area encompasses Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula, and the maritime warning includes southeastern waters, the Bashi Channel, the southern Taiwan Strait, and northeastern waters.
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