Two crew members of a chemical tanker are missing after the vessel capsized on the Yangtze River, Nanjing, in the early morning of 18 June.
The ship was ferrying around 280 tonnes of liquid caustic soda from Taizhou, Jiangsu, to Hefei, Anhui, when it sank near Chuantian Shipyard.
The ship’s rated load is more than 300 tonnes and it was not overloaded at the time of the accident, according to local maritime officials.
Maritime officials have dispatched two salvage ships and two tugboats to the site. Officials have ruled out finding the crew members alive, as divers are not able to carry out search and rescue operation in the river’s fast-rising water level.
The two missing crew members have been identified as the 53-year-old shipowner and captain.
The liquid caustic soda is still sealed within the cabin and no spillage has been reported yet, said local environment protection department.
The search and rescue operation is continuing and investigation into the accident will be conducted soon.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
