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All Crew Members on Stranded Chinese Cargo Ship Rescued
All of the 26 crew members of a 6,182-ton Chinese cargo ship which reported engine trouble Monday morning in stormy Pacific waters off southern Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo, were rescued early Tuesday, Kyodo News reported.
None of the 26 crew members, all Chinese, were injured in the incident, the report said.
The 6,182-ton Chinese vessel, the Chao Bai He, reported the engine trouble at 9:10 a.m. (Japan time) Monday as it sailed about 26 kilometers south of Cape Irozaki, the report said, quoting Japanese Coast Guard officials.
The ship later drifted 30 km to the east due to strong winds and dropped anchor about 500 meters northwest off the coast of Niijima Island.
Japanese coast guard vessels made five attempts to tow the ship to safety but were thwarted by seven-meter waves and high winds sweeping the area at more than 70 km per hour, according to the report.
Two helicopters, one from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the other from the Japan Coast Guard, launched an airlift operation at 10:30 p.m. and, by midnight, had plucked 20 of the 26 crew members from the ship. The remaining crew were rescued early Tuesday morning.
The Chinese ship left Yokohama on Saturday bound for Nagoya, western Japan, with 1,600 tons of cargo containers.
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