Police Seize Vessel Suspected of Hit-and-RunPolice in east China' Wenzhou city have detained a cargo vessel suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run maritime accident, which caused a ship sunk and five out of the seven crew members to be missing.The rest two were saved by bypassing vessels five hours after the accident. Sitong 888 sunk immediately after the accident, while Tongning 3, the suspect ship, fled. Border police at the Bacao port of Cangnan county spotted the Tongning 3 cargo vessel anchored at the port Saturday morning. Preliminary investigations have discovered that the crew of Tongning 3 fled the area after the vessel entered the port the night before. Police also found obvious evidence of a collision on its bow. The vessel's logbook shows that it departed from Daganwei port of Dongguan city, Guangdong Province heading for Longgang port in Wenzhou city on April 16, and it passed the sea area of Shenzhen on April 18. Police had informed the Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration of their findings, which required maritime authorities nationwide to help find the vessel. The accident occurred at 1:23 a.m. on April 18, when the Tongning 3 collided with the cargo vessel Sitong 888 off Dapeng Gulf near Shenzhen in south China. Sitong 888 is registered in Nanjing city, Jiangsu Province and was carrying a full load of 900 tons of ceramic tiles when the accident happened. The authorities believe that the Tongning 3 ignored distress calls from the crew of Sitong 888 and headed north. The case is still under further investigation. |
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