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Six sailors killed at sea in shipwreck near Lugang

Six Chinese seamen died and another six were missing after a ship overturned yesterday morning in the Taiwan Strait.

The Coast Guard said a ship registered in Panama, the Ta-Chi-Lun (大佶輪) ran aground about 20km off the coast of Lugang, Changhua County, at about 3am yesterday morning before it sank at 4am.

All 25 Chinese crewmen aboard jumped into the sea wearing life jackets during the incident.

The Coast Guard said the bureau received a rescue assistance request at 3:15am and immediately dispatched helicopters and cutters to the site.

The Coast Guard said the ship disappeared from their radars at about 4am.

FLOATING

They said that around 6am as day was dawning, coast guard officers spotted a number of Chinese seamen floating in the sea.

At about 7:30am eight seamen were rescued from the sea by helicopter, while three others were rescued at about 10am, the coast guard said.

While the eight were in good condition, the three seamen rescued later were suffering from hypothermia.

All 13 rescued sailors were recovering in Chiayi hospitals, the Coast Guard said, adding they were worried about their missing crewmates.

The Coast Guard recovered six bodies at sea, while six others remained missing.

The Coast Guard said the rescue efforts were still ongoing.

The ship, carrying 24,700 tonnes of sand, set out from Guangdong Province, China, and was heading for Taichung Harbor after calling at Hong Kong.

The Coast Guard said bad weather in the Taiwan Strait early yesterday morning was the likely cause of the accident.

This was the second incident this month that resulted in the deaths of Chinese sailors.

Seven Chinese fishermen are still missing after a cargo ship rammed into the side of their transport vessel and snapped it in half just off of Taiwan's northern coast on Jan. 6.

Sixty-four seamen were rescued after the ship sank, but seven were not and are presumed dead.
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