Container Ship Sinks Following Collision Off Vietnam

Truong Hai Star, a Vietnamese ship, has sunk with a 66-container cargo following a collision with a Thai vessel, Krairatch Dignity, in the offshore region of Vung Tau city in the early morning hours on Tuesday.

Immediately after the incident, both ships communicated SOS signals. Vessels were sent to tow the now sunken ship to Bai Truoc in Vung Tau city by the local port authorities. However, the ship completely sunk with all of its cargo before any aid arrived.

All 16 crewmembers aboard the container ship were rescued and taken ashore.

Vung Port Authority has been working to fish containers out of the ocean; so far, about 30 containers from the sunken vessel have been collected by rescue workers as of Tuesday night. Most of the cargo consists of car/automobile parts. A Vietnam news report states that after the incident, the Vung Tau Port Authorities temporarily banned boat trips on the Vung Tau-HCM City route to prevent them from colliding with floating containers from the sunken ship. However, the ban has been removed.

The ship has also been surrounded with buoys to prevent any possible oil spill, but no evidence of such has been reported yet.

The Truong Hai Star is owned by Chu Lai-Truong Hai Shipping Co., Ltd. It is 85.5m long, 12.98m wide, 6.85m high and 3,582 tons. The vessel can carry up to 68 containers. The ship is worth US$2 million and the insurer will cover related cost and losses.

Photo (thumb): Pictures the offshore region of Vung Tau city.