"Sinking feeling over 27 lost in eye of storm" 4 July 2022

A rescue mission is still going on for 27 missing crewmen of an engineering vessel that broke in two and sank southwest of Hong Kong in Typhoon Chaba.

The Government Flying Service said yesterday mainland ship Fujing 001 broke up 300 kilometers from Hong Kong at 7.25 am on Saturday.

Two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft were deployed, but only three survivors were rescued, while 27 were still missing.

Pilots said a wind farm under construction near the scene made it difficult for aircraft to get close enough to stage the rescue. [...]

Fujing 001 was involved in building the Qingzhou I and II offshore wind farms of Guangdong Electric Power Development Corp in Yangjiang, Guangdong.

The vessel belonged to Shanghai Huajing Zhiyun Maritime Technology Corp, and had undergone checks in Fuzhou, Fujian, in April.

The Guangdong Maritime Search and Rescue Center said the ship was sheltering from the storm in the waters of Yangjiang, but its anchor broke.

A spokesman for the vessel's owner said: "The shelter of Fujing 001 was close to the center of the typhoon. Weather conditions were adverse and the winds were strong. The waves hit 10 meters high at one stage, causing the anchor to break and control of the ship to be lost." [...]