24 rescued after China-bound cargo ship sinks in Pacific near Guam

[News_Editor]

HAGATNA, GUAM (BNO NEWS) -- Twenty-four crew members from China were rescued Sunday after a Panama-flagged cargo ship began to sank near the U.S. territory of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday. There were no reports of injuries.

The incident began at around 8 a.m. local time on Sunday when the U.S. Coast Guard at Guam received a report of flooding from the 500-foot (152-meter) Panama-flagged Rich Forest cargo ship, which was carrying logs en-route to China. It had a total of 24 Chinese crew members on board.

"The ship experienced flooding in the engine room and subsequent loss of propulsion. The Chinese crew reported the vessel was taking on 160 tons of water per hour and generators had failed," the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. It said it alerted four merchant vessels in the region to provide assistance under the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System.

At around 1:21 p.m. local time, as the commercial ships and two U.S. Coast Guard vessels were underway, the crew of the Rich Forest reported that crew members were abandoning ship and entering life rafts. They remained in the life rafts for nearly 3.5 hours until they were rescued by the vessel CS Sunshine at 4:40 p.m.

"CS Sunshine completed the rescue of all survivors from life rafts and safely brought them aboard without incident," the Coast Guard said. It said the Chinese crew members would be taken aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Assateague once it arrives at the scene, after which CS Sunshine will continue to its destination in Japan.

The Rich Forest remained unpowered and adrift on Monday, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to issue a notice to mariners to warn ships of the hazard.

(Copyright 2014 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)