Six sailors remain missing after ship capsizal in E. China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-30 14:36

BEIJING -- Six sailors remained missing while nine were saved after a Panamanian-nationality vessel with 15 sailors capsized in east China's Nanji Islands sea area on Monday, local authority said Tuesday.

The vessel named "Helios 3" reported its distress, saying they were "sinking", and called for help to the Municipal Maritime Rescue Center of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, at 2:09 p.m. Monday, according to Li Hua, deputy director of the center.

The tropical storm, caused by Jangmi, the 15th typhoon this year, had made two cabins of the vessel flooded, which lead to the sinking, Li said.

A rescue ship was sent to the reported site despite warnings and rescue requires were sent to the nearby ships both in Chinese and English, he said.

Two of the sailors on the life raft were found and saved at 5:05 p.m. by a ship named "Cap Doukato" passing by, who received the signals from the official rescue center. Seven others were saved by rescuers on rescue vessel setting off at 2:44 p.m. from the neighboring Fujian Province.

The searching work was still undertaking, Li said.

The capsized vessel was a Korean ship registered in Panama, shipping 6,000 tons of woods from Burma to Jiaxing Port in Zhejiang, with sailors from Korea, Burma and Indonesia, Li said.

The Jangmi, which forced the evacuation of 500,000 people in Zhejiang and the neighbouring Fujian and stranded 110 tourists on the Nanji Islands on Saturday, had been weakened to be tropical storm at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. The typhoon alarm had been lifted, according to Zhejiang provincial meteorological observatory.