Trade News

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Flying Service announced on social media on July 2 that a dangerous shipwreck occurred in the southwest waters of Hong Kong. The hull of an engineering vessel broke in two, and about 30 crew members abandoned the ship to escape.

This news was confirmed by the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Guangdong Province. According to the Guangdong Provincial Maritime Search and Rescue Center, at 3:50 a.m. on July 2nd, the Yangjiang Maritime Rescue Center discovered during the duty of the Guangdong Maritime Supervision and Command System that the floating crane vessel "Fujing 001" for the construction of the offshore wind farm project was in danger when its anchor chain broke and it stragked while taking shelter from Typhoon Chaba in the nearby typhoon prevention anchorage.

As of now, only 3 out of the 30 people on the ship have been rescued and 27 are still missing.

Members of the Flying Service swam down the rope in mid-air to the deck and rescued the crew members who were suspected of falling into the sea. At this time, the hull had already broken into two pieces, and the waves rushed over the deck of the semi-submersible below. In less than a minute, the ship had sunk.

According to three survivors, the other crew members might have been swept away by the waves before the first helicopter arrived, and they could only hold onto the fence on the ship.

At present, the three crew members have been sent to the headquarters of the Flight Service at Hong Kong International Airport and then transferred to North Lantau Hospital by ambulance for treatment. Their conditions are stable.

It is understood that after receiving the emergency, the Guangdong Maritime Search and Rescue Center informed and coordinated with the South China Sea Rescue Bureau and various maritime safety administrations to coordinate professional rescue vessels, salvage vessels, coast guard vessels and merchant ships nearby to participate in the rescue. The coast guard also immediately dispatched vessels, and China Southern Airlines General Aviation sent rescue helicopters to the scene for rescue. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Flying Service dispatched two fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopters, involving almost all the crew members of the flying Service in the search and rescue operation.

However, as the incident occurred near the eye of Typhoon Chaba, the weather was extremely bad. When the rescue vessel arrived at the location, the wind speed was 144 kilometers per hour, visibility was only 500 meters, and the surge was 10 meters, which brought even greater difficulties to the rescue operation.

In addition, upon arrival, the personnel learned that there were multiple wind farms nearby, including several large windmills standing upright on the water surface. The fleet had to carefully avoid obstacles to reach the accident site, which greatly increased the danger and search and rescue time.

Rescue workers said that "due to a large number of people missing", they will expand the search area and extend the operation until late at night if conditions permit.

Mr. Wu, a crew member who was also taking shelter from the typhoon in the anchorage near Yangjiang, said that their vessel was near the "Fujing 001" at that time. "We are also an engineering vessel and have applied for an internal anchorage." We were in the waterway, while they were in a temporary wind-resistant anchorage outside the waterway. After the accident, for some unknown reason, they moved to Maoming.

Mr. Wu said that when the "Fujing 001" was moving, it kept asking for help in the "high-frequency" section, claiming that "water had entered the living area".

"Fujing 001" belongs to Shanghai Huajing Zhiyun Marine Technology Co., LTD. It is a 2,000-ton full-slewing crane vessel with a length of 204 meters.

A relevant person in charge from the company's information department stated that before the incident, "Fujing 001" was engaged in the construction of the offshore main structure of the Yuedian Yangjiang Qingzhou I and II Offshore Wind Power Project.

It is understood that "Fujing 001" is currently participating in the construction of the main offshore works of the Yuedian Yangjiang Qingzhou I and Qingzhou II offshore Wind Farms Project. The Qingzhou Offshore Wind Power Project is invested and constructed by Qingzhou Offshore Wind Power Company, a subsidiary of Guangdong Energy Group. With a total installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts and an investment of approximately 16.8 billion yuan, it follows the Yangjiang Shapa Offshore Wind Power Project (with an installed capacity of 300,000 kilowatts), which achieved full capacity grid connection and commissioning in December last year. Another major clean energy project that Guangdong Energy Group has made substantive progress in its layout in the Yangjiang Sea area. A total of 92 typhoon-resistant MySE11-230 offshore wind turbines have been installed in the project. The "Fujing 001" platform will undertake the settlement work of no less than 40 sets of jacket frames and foundation steel pipe piles among them.

Regarding the cause of the accident, the person in charge of Shanghai Huajing Zhiyun said, "The sheltered anchorage where Fujing 001 was located at that time was still very close to the typhoon. The weather was extremely bad and the wind force was very strong." At that time, the wave height once reached about 10 meters, exerting too much tension on the anchor chain, causing it to break. Then the ship got out of control.

This article is collated and released by Ningbo Shipping Comprehensive Maritime Service Network (CNSS).