Ningbo Marine coal carrier hit by gravel barge near Wenzhou
General cargo vessel Ming Zhou 66 and gravel barge Hong Cheng Yun 3 collided near Wenzhou in the East China Sea on Tuesday.
The incident happened when Ming Zhou 66, loaded with coal, was sailing off from the anchorage site and the barge struck into the portside of the ship.
Local maritime safety administration sent out a rescue team and managed to safely evacuate all 31 crew from both vessels, while another team of engineers took five hours to cut the hull of Ming Zhou 66 in order to separate the two ships.
Ming Zhou 66, operated by Ningbo Marine, was towed to a safe anchorage and the water ingress situation was under control, while the gravel barge arrived its port of destination in Wenzhou.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.