Tragedy at sea in Typhoon Chaba: Dozens of crew are missing after massive ship broke in half and sunk off Hong Kong as dramatic video shows one being winched off just before vessel vanished beneath the waves
Doomed Fujing 001 vessel sunk some 186 miles south off the coast of Hong Kong
Dozens of crew are missing off the coast of Hong Kong after an industrial support ship snapped in two and sunk during a fierce tropical storm.
The engineering vessel that was 160 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong “suffered substantial damage and broke into two pieces” and the 30-member crew abandoned the ship, according to the Hong Kong Government Flying Service.
Three people had been rescued as of 3pm local time and were taken to hospital for treatment, authorities said.
Some of the crew had abandoned the vessel and harsh weather conditions were hampering rescue efforts, they said.
Dramatic footage provided by Hong Kong authorities showed a person being airlifted onto a helicopter while waves crashed over the deck of the semi-submerged ship below.
The three survivors said other crew members may have been swept away by waves before the first helicopter arrived, according to a government statement.
Wind speeds of 144 kilometres per hour and waves 10 metres high were recorded at the site where the ship was located, authorities said.
The Government Flying Service dispatched two sorties of fixed-wing aircraft and four helicopter sorties, with mainland Chinese authorities also dispatching a rescue boat.
Gao Shuanzhu, the National Meteorological Center’s chief forecaster said the typhoon is expected to bring heavy rain but will lose strength over time.
Gao said: “The abundant monsoon water vapour will lead to intense downpours and huge cumulative rainfall of an extreme nature,” predicting up to 24 inches of cumulative rainfall in some areas.
At risk is the west of Guangdong, where China’s typhoons usually linger, the east of Guangxi autonomous region, and the island province of Hainan, with rainstorms causing landslides, urban waterlogging, and floods, Gao said.
Hainan upgraded its emergency response to Level II, the second-highest, on Saturday.
Authorities had raised the typhoon warning on Thursday just as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the city to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its handover from Britain to China.
