Search Continues for 16 Missing After Ships Collide

The 3,800-ton South Korean cargo vessel Golden Rose sank near Yantai, east China’s Shangdong Province on Saturday, May 12, at around 3 am local time. The sinking occurred after it collided with the 4,800-ton Chinese containership Jinsheng in heavy fog. Chinese officials are still investigating the cause of the collision. When MarEx went online, days after the collision, no survivors or bodies of the Golden Rose’s 16-member crew -- consisting of 7 South Koreans, 8 Myanmarese, and 1 Indonesian -- had been found. The Xinhua News Agency, the official press agency of China, stated on Sunday that “high winds on the sea have hindered the rescue efforts.” However, though no sign of the missing crew has yet been discovered, initial search efforts did turn up two empty life rafts and items from the Golden Rose. The sunken vessel itself was then located on Monday at 38 degrees 14.45 minutes north latitude, 121 degrees 41.92 minutes east longitude. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, quoted by the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday, May 15, China has “intensified” its search efforts. She stated, “As long as there is one percent hope for the survival of the missing sailors, China will exert one hundred percent efforts for the rescue work.” However, experts told Xinhua News Agency on Wenesday that with the average temperature of the water where the Golden Rose sank being 13.6 degrees Celsius (56.48 degrees Fahrenheit), chances of any of the crew members surviving even two days after the accident were very “slim.” Nevertheless, China has been doing quite a lot to find the missing sailors, on the authority of the Xinhua News Agency: “Battling winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour, Chinese rescuers on Tuesday enlarged the search area off the coast of Yantai City, east China's Shandong Province, according to a spokesman with China's Ministry of Communications. More than 200 Chinese ships and three aircraft have joined the search mission, and China has invited ROK [Republic of Korea] authorities to send rescue boats and coast guard vessels, the spokesman said.” Managed by Bukwang Shipping Company, the Golden Rose was carrying 5,900 tons of steel from Liaoning, China to the Republic of Korea when it sank. The Saint Vincent-registered Jinsheng, which is operated by Shangdong Lufeng Shipping Company Ltd., continued to its destination in Dalian, a port city in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province and arrived there at 2:50 pm local time on Saturday, where crew members finally reported the accident. Jinsheng crew members and operators are now being investigated by the Liaoning Maritime Affairs Bureau, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Two Golden Rose officials, two South Korean maritime officials, and twenty one relatives of victims arrived in Yantai on Tuesday to hear the Chinese official report and find out the reasons for the delay. Han Lupeng, Deputy Director of the Yantai Maritime Affairs Bureau told the relatives and Korean officials that “Chinese authorities are puzzled about exactly what happened.” Han believes the Golden Rose sank so fast that it had no time to send any emergency signals, but told the Xinhua News Agency that the official cause will be determined only after the investigation is concluded.