3 Killed, 5 Missing and 650 Containers Sinking After Two Container Ships Collide

At about 23:00 Beijing time on December 13, 2020, a container ship "OCEANA" with a capacity of 1740 Teu collided with the container ship "Xinqisheng 69" near the light float D15 in the north channel of the Yangtze River estuary due to main engine failure, resulting in the sinking of the ship.

According to the information of Shanghai Maritime Search and Rescue Center: the Chinese cargo ship "Xinqisheng 69" was collided with the Antigua and Barbuda container ship "OCEANA" in the north channel of Yangtze River mouth by the faulty main engine, resulting in the collision of "Xinqisheng 69". A total of 16 Chinese crew members of "Xinqisheng 69" were in danger, so far, a total of 11 people rescued, of which three people have no vital signs, the remaining five people are still in the search. "OCEANA" is not in danger for the time being.

The container ship "OCEANA" may have just left China's port from Shanghai Overseas Terminal 1, and had called at Ningbo port.

The vessel "Xinqisheng 69" is 165 meters long, 23 meters wide, 8.5 meters draft, carrying 650 containers. It is an external chartered vessel of TransAsia Shipping Line.

In response to the accident, Pan Asia Shipping Line issued a statement at 10:00 a.m. on December 14, stating that the vessel was on its way from Xiamen to Nantong when it encountered a vessel with main engine failure near the northern channel of the Yangtze River estuary at an approximate position of 31-07.204N 122-16.328E. The ship "OCEANA" collided with the ship with defective engine.

The Yangtze River mouth may be temporarily closed, which may cause some delays to the ship schedule.