Updated at 3:57 p.m., Thursday, July 12, 2007
Coast Guard hunts survivors after ship sinks off Guam
Advertiser Staff
The Coast Guard continues to search for 12 people after a Chinese ship sank 375 miles northwest of Guam.The Hai Tong No. 7 began broadcasting a distress signal at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
Twenty minutes later, the signal from the vessel's emergency position indicating radio beacon ceased.
An urgent marine broadcast asked mariners in the area to assist. The vessels Ikan Bilis and Horizon Falcon arrived and rescued 10 people, including two injured men, the Coast Guard said.
The Ikan Bilis and eight survivors were en route to Guam, while the Horizon Falcon was on its way to China with the two other survivors.
U.S. Navy aircraft from Japan, two Coast Guard C-130 airplanes from Barbers Point and a cutter from Guam responded to the distress call. The Navy aircraft was the first to spot the crew members floating among debris and directed the rescuing ships to them.
The Hai Tong No. 7 was a 420-foot Chinese-flagged bulk log carrier owned by Fuzhou Haijing Shipping and was en route to China from Papua New Guinea, the Coast Guard said. The survivors reported that the cargo began shifting as the vessel faced 70 mph winds and 24-foot seas.
