Freak weather killed 442 on ship
Print Edition
HEAVY storms during freak weather caused the capsize of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River in June, killing 442 people, an official investigation has declared.
A State Council team called the incident “an extraordinarily serious disaster” caused by strong winds and heavy rain resulting from a squall line accompanied by a downburst, a very rare weather phenomenon, according to an official report released yesterday.
However, it also recommended the captain be subject to further investiation and that representatives of the shipping company and local authorities be punished for management flaws.
Captain Zhang Shunwen was one of just 14 survivors.
Among the 43 executives and officials named as having failed in management, seven are from the cruise ship company and 36 from government departments.
The highest punishment recommended for officials implicated in the accident is “sacking,” the statement said.
The Eastern Star encountered the squall line — a line of thunderstorms that can form along or ahead of a cold front — during a trip from Nanjing to Chongqing on the night of June 1, and a downburst — a strong downdraft which causes damaging winds on or near the ground — rather than a tornado as reported previously — caused the ship to overturn, the the report said.
In a very short time, winds reached level 12 to 13 on the Beaufort scale while rainfall rose to 94.4 millimetres per hour, according to the report.
The captain took measures to stabilize the vessel, but the wind force was more than double the maximum level the ship could take, investigators found.
A downburst can be detected by radar, but with radar equipment more than 45 kilometers from the site there was no time left for alerts to be sent, said Xu Xiangde, a weather scientist on the investigation team. The incident was some 50 kilometers from the nearest radar, Xu said.
Investigators found that the ship’s ability to resist wind pressure conformed to regulations but was not strong enough to stand extreme weather.
The Eastern Star was built in 1994 as a vessel for passenger transport, converted into a cruise ship in 1997 and rebuilt in 2008.
The ship’s stability in the wind decreased gradually following those projects but was still in line with official requirements, said Wu Yousheng, a ship expert who took part in the investigation.
Another two ships were hit by the storms in the same river section but did not capsize because they had much higher wind resistance, Wu said.
Investigators analyzed weather satellite, radar and ground monitoring data, aerial photos and interviews of witnesses.
Experts clarified several issues about the incident, saying a tornado, which had been thought to be the cause of the disaster, hit a nearby port minutes earlier but did not affect the river area.
The investigation also ruled out speculation that the Eastern Star was speeding before the accident occurred, as a coach due to pick up passengers at the next stop was late and the ship was actually slowing down.
Neither did the ship turn around after encountering the adverse weather, according to Song Jiahui, director general of the China Diving and Salvage Contractors Association, who was also part of the investigation team.
The captain didn’t abandon ship before it capsized, Song said.
Zhang climbed out of a window after the ship overturned and swam to the river bank. Later, he and three other crew members came across another ship and reported the accident to the local maritime administration from a borrowed cellphone, Song said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
