Cement carrier sinks off the coast of Taiwan

A search for 12 missing crew members continues off the coast of Taiwan after their cement carrier sank. The 10,000dwt Xing Shun No 1, built in 2014, sank on Monday, 31 October, on the east side of the Changhua channel in the Taiwan Strait.

The Panama-flagged ship had 17 seafarers on board. Five seafarers who abandoned the vessel were successfully rescued, and the remaining 12 were still alive at that point, having made it to the lifeboats.

Taiwanese authorities said two empty lifeboats had since been spotted. Reports said the Xing Shun No 1 was originally carrying 20 Indonesian nationals. Three had been disembarked for medical treatment after being injured on 30 October in unexplained circumstances.

Then on Monday, the ship lost power 14 miles off Lizhuoshuixi. The vessel had left Hon Gai in Vietnam on 25 October and was heading for Taichung in Taiwan. The ship’s last port state control inspection in Vietnam in September found two deficiencies relating to life buoys and lighting in working spaces.

Equasis lists the owner as Jin Shun Maritime of Hong Kong, while Clarksons records the ownership as unknown.