Panamanian carge ship sinks, 1 dead, 7 missing

Zhoushan (CNS) – A large cargo ship named Yuan Tong suddenly began to sink from the bow as it readied to berth at Liuheng Island, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province at about six Tuesday morning, according to the Zhoushan Maritime Bureau.

Of the ship's crew, one perished and 32 were rescued; the remaining seven crew members have been missing since 11:30 am Tuesday.

At press time, the local bureau had sent seven ships to her rescue, contacted a salvage company, sent out a traffic warning to nearby ships. Divers were already preparing to conduct an underwater search.

It is known that the sunken vessel Yuan Tong is from Panama, its deadweight is 7,424 tons, and 20 of the crew are of Chinese nationality. It stopped to make repairs at Longshan Shipyard at 5:30 pm March 1, and left to return to the dock around five am March 13. The vessel sank one hour later.