Captain’s body found, four missing after ship sank near Taiwan

Four seafarers from a cargo ship Fu Shun that sank off the coast of Taiwan during Typhoon Gaemi were still missing on 26 July, according to authorities. They had found a fourth survivor as well as the body of the ship’s captain.

Stormy weather following the typhoon caused the vessel Fu Shun to sink about 19 nautical miles from shore. On 25 July, the vessel’s nine Myanmar crew members abandoned ship while wearing life jackets, the authorities reported.

Tanzania-flagged Fu Shun is 56 metres long, built in 1985.

Rescue efforts were hampered by severe weather conditions, but by the evening, three crew members had been found on land. This prompted rescuers to expand their search, hoping that the remaining six might have reached the southern shores of Kaohsiung.

Read more: Tanker capsizes near Manila claiming one life, cargo ship sinks off coast Taiwan

Taiwanese authorities were also working to rescue 79 crew members from eight other cargo ships “stranded” off the island’s southwestern coast.

Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall in Taiwan early on 25 July, was the strongest storm to directly hit the island in eight years, according to weather administration officials.

At least five people were killed, and hundreds were injured.

By the evening of 25 July, the storm had moved to China, but heavy rain continued to batter Taiwan’s southwestern coast on 26 July, leading to flooding.

WATCH: Taiwan’s coast guard rescues nine crew members from Myanmar who were stranded on a cargo ship during #TyphoonGaemi. The coast guard says there are still five people missing and 79 stranded around Taiwan.

Source: bilin.kuang/Facebook pic.twitter.com/uAshK0AGZF

— TaiwanPlus News (@taiwanplusnews) July 26, 2024