Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration News

Chinese bulker Bao Jiang 88 capsized and sank in Jinshan Fairway, near Yangshan Port of Shanghai while enroute from Ningbo to Nanjing with 4,600 tons of ore concentrates. 12 crew went into life raft and were rescued by a nearby cargo ship. Vessel loaded with 4600 of ore was en route to Nanjing. Reports say the cause of the capsizing was due to improper trimming of cargo. The local authorities started investigation for the root cause of the accident. According to preliminary information and witness evidences the ship capsized after cargo shift, caused by not trimmed product in the holds. Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration has notified nearby vessels to avoid the wreck site and local authorities have started investigations into the incident.

C-MAR, an international marine and offshore services provider, and the Shanghai Maritime University (SMU) has officially launched the Dynamic Positioning training facility (DPC-SMU) at a special ceremony in Shanghai. In the first joint venture of its kind, C-MAR will provide dynamic positioning (DP) training to Chinese nationals and vessel operators in the offshore oil and gas sector, bringing the company’s extensive experience and expertise to the world’s fastest growing maritime sector.

The 98-meter freighter sent out a distress call as the ship began to founder in strong winds off the mouth of the Yangtze River. The freighter was loaded with a cargo of water-absorbing mineral sands, and the crew of 15 was taken off shortly before the ship foundered in darkness. The Ministry of Transport's Donghai Rescue Bureau and the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration dispatched four rescue vessels as soon as the call was received, according to a statement from the administration. The freighter, owned by a transportation company in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, had been carrying 4,725 tons of mineral sands from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, to Longkou, Shandong Province.

A 15,000-ton cargo ship reportedly sank on Saturday while trying to berth in the Huangpu River near Nanpu Bridge in Shanghai, according to a report on www.shanghaidaily.com. Attempts will be made to salvage the Yin Chu this week but it will be a complicated operation, according to maritime officials. "No one was injured in the accident and no oil polluted the river," said Zhou Zhengbao of the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration. All holes in the ship were blocked soon after the accident to prevent pollution, Zhou said. Two tugboats berthed beside the 150-meter former roll-on-roll-off Yin Chu to prevent it from floating to the middle of the river. It had been turned into a dredge ship by Ruike Shipping Company and was being tested in the river when the accident occurred about 12:30pm.

According to reports, three sailors are confirmed dead after a ship collision at Wusong, the mouth of the Yangtze River in China, the Shanghai Morning Post reported. After more than 30 hours of searching yesterday, Wangang 428, the sunken tugboat was found and pulled from the water. Search members found three bodies in its cabin, one sailor is still missing. Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration contacted their families to identify the bodies. The responsibility of the collision is still under investigation. Source; Shanghai Morning Post

According to reports, the International Marine Aids to Navigation Exhibition opened yesterday in Shanghai. Automatic Identification System (AIS) response, one of the most advanced digital aids to navigation, was launched to help build an expressway for ships to sail faster and safer to port. Aids to navigation, termed the ears and eyes of ships, help sailors to know their position at sea. Shanghai port built its first aid to navigation, the Sheshan Mountain lighthouse, in 1871. According to the data, by the end of 2005 Shanghai had built 632 aids to navigation, up by 122% since 2002. From lighthouses and beacons to radar responders and GPS (Global Positioning System), Shanghai¡¯s navigational aids have now entered the digital era.