World loss log 18 – 31 August 2009

Late reports

17.8, sinking, fatalities

Taiwan: rescuers continued the search for the 22 seamen on bulk carrier Chang Ying who had been missing for nine days in the waters off Taiwan following typhoon “Morakot”. Authorities in the eastern Qingdao City received a fax last Friday from the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), confirming Chang Ying had sunk and the seamen were missing. ARATS also transmitted a letter from the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) to the Qingdao administration. The freighter was caught by typhoon Morakot on Aug 8 in the south-east of Taiwan. The seamen employed by the Qingdao-based Datong International Shipping Management Company Ltd have not been contacted since. The company reported the shipwreck to the Qingdao City Administration, which immediately responded to the accident. Relatives of the seamen were also informed of the accident. The Taiwan rescue team mobilized rescue operations immediately after receiving the report from the mainland, according to the Shandong Provincial Maritime Safety Administration.