Maritime Casualties--March 30, 2010
Latest maritime casualty news.
• South Korean Navy Ship Sinks, Rescuers Still Searching for Crew
Military divers continued efforts over the weekend to reach the sunken South Korean ship that exploded and split in half last Friday.
The 1,200-ton South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, was near the Yellow Sea border when an unexplained explosion split the vessel in half, causing it to sink three hours later. 104 crew were on board, 58 were rescued, while 46 remain missing.
A 79-member ship salvage unit from the Navy arrived at the scene to hopefully recover missing crew, but had to cease efforts because of the fierce waves and severely low water temperatures. Most of the 46 missing soldiers are believed to have been inside the vessel when it sank, and some believe would not survive more than 72 hours in the frigid water. However, efforts will continue.
The cause of this monumental maritime disaster is unknown but officials are considering all scenarios and possible causes. The process to uncover the culprit could take weeks but some are already speculating the vessel exploded due to a floating mine.
• 2 Sailors Missing After Cargo Ship Sinks in Japan
Sailors went missing after two cargo ships collided in the Naruto Strait, between Japan's Fukushima and Hyogo Prefectures early Sunday morning.
The nearly 3,000-tonne Marshall Islands-registered Outsailing collided with the 199-tonne Japanese Nisshim-maru around midnight Sunday. Nisshim-maru sank shortly after impact, causing all 4 crew members to go overboard. The 15-member, uninjured crew of the Outsailing rescued 2 of the Japanese sailors.
Regional police, coast guard and other emergency officials launched a search and rescue operation for the missing 2 crew members. An investigation is now underway to determine cause of the accident.