Sinking Casts Pall over China's Ship Safety Record
The sinking of a cruise boat on China's Yangtze River is likely to mar the country's generally clean maritime safety record, which hasn't suffered an incident of this magnitude since a passenger steamship blew up almost 70 years ago. The Eastern Star, which was carrying 458 people, capsized in a storm late on Monday, state media said, with those on board ranging in age from three to more than 80. Six bodies have been found and over a dozen people rescued, but more than 430 are still unaccounted for. The incident comes after China has beefed up maritime safety regulations in recent years, with authorities becoming even more stringent after last year's South Korean ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, industry insiders said.
Chinese Cargo Ship Hits Yangtze Bridge Pier, Sinks
18 crew members of the ship were rescued shortly before their vessel sank in the Yangtze River after hitting a bridge pier. Damage was visible on a pier of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province after the cargo vessel, loaded with 12,500 tons of limestone, encountered it, reports the 'China Daily'. The vessel, "Xinchuan 8" was transporting the limestone from Tongling in east China's Anhui Province to Luoyuan, a coastal county in southeast China's Fujian Province, when the accident happened adds the 'China Daily' citing sources in Nanjing Maritime Bureau. The vessel, belonging to Rushan Xinchuan Shipping and Transportation Co.…
