Cargo ship slams into bridge, crew rescued
By Yang Jian |
May 13, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ALL 18 crew members of a cargo ship were rescued shortly before the vessel sank in the Yangtze River after hitting a bridge pier yesterday in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
The vessel, Xinchuan 8, was transporting 12,500 tons of limestone from Tongling in Anhui Province to Luoyuan, a coastal county in Fujian Province, when the accident happened about 4:20am, the Nanjing Maritime Bureau reported yesterday.
"The vessel was about to cross under the sixth gap of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge but suddenly turned to try to pass through the seventh gap and ended up colliding with the pier between the two," the bureau said.
The bridge was not damaged, but the vessel, belonging to Rushan Xinchuan Shipping and Transportation Co Ltd, started leaking water after the collision, according to the bureau's preliminary investigation.
The city's maritime relief center sent a rescue team to the scene, and all 18 crew members were taken to safety by 4:55am.
The ship sank about 5am, some 3.5 kilometers from the bridge.
"The limestone will not pollute the river because it cannot dissolve in water," the Nanjing City government said on its official microblog account yesterday.
The relief center also said the accident didn't cause any pollution.
Maritime authorities in Nanjing said they will salvage the ship and continue their investigation into the cause of the accident.
Nanjing has five bridges spanning the country's longest river.
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was built in 1968.
The vessel, Xinchuan 8, was transporting 12,500 tons of limestone from Tongling in Anhui Province to Luoyuan, a coastal county in Fujian Province, when the accident happened about 4:20am, the Nanjing Maritime Bureau reported yesterday.
"The vessel was about to cross under the sixth gap of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge but suddenly turned to try to pass through the seventh gap and ended up colliding with the pier between the two," the bureau said.
The bridge was not damaged, but the vessel, belonging to Rushan Xinchuan Shipping and Transportation Co Ltd, started leaking water after the collision, according to the bureau's preliminary investigation.
The city's maritime relief center sent a rescue team to the scene, and all 18 crew members were taken to safety by 4:55am.
The ship sank about 5am, some 3.5 kilometers from the bridge.
"The limestone will not pollute the river because it cannot dissolve in water," the Nanjing City government said on its official microblog account yesterday.
The relief center also said the accident didn't cause any pollution.
Maritime authorities in Nanjing said they will salvage the ship and continue their investigation into the cause of the accident.
Nanjing has five bridges spanning the country's longest river.
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was built in 1968.
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