Taiwanese Fishing Vessel Fire Sees Crew Missing After Abandon Ship
An alert was issued on 26 June when the owners of a Taiwan fishing vessel, Chun Ying, reported they had lost contact with their ship at 0110 local time. By the end of the day the report changed to one that the vessel had been destroyed by fire and abandoned by the crew.
| Taiwan Fishing Vessel Similar to Chun Ying - Photo: Marine Traffic.com |
The longliner, Chun Ying, but also stated as being named Chin Yung, owned by Chyan Maan Oceanic, Taiwan, was last reported at 01:13N 055:24E, approximately 720nm east of Mogadishu, Somalia and approximately 320nm north of The Seychelles. The vessels two life rafts were reported missing.
The fishing vessel was stated to be carrying a crew of 28 and a further 3 maritime security guards. The fates were unknown at the time and it was considered that they may have abandoned the vessel and embarked the two life rafts onboard.
A search and rescue mission commenced which saw an EU maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, UKMTO, IMB, and the Seychelles Coast Guard involved in efforts to locate the stricken vessel.
The EU MPRA reported locating a life raft with 10 persons onboard. The second life raft was yet to be sighted as at 27 June. With the adverse conditions of the Indian Ocean at this time of year, the possibility of finding the remaining crew and life raft began to fade as the search continued.
A sister fishing vessel, Chun Ying 777, was directed to assist the life raft with the 10 persons. The burnt out and abandoned vessel was found following a search by CTF 150 unit.
In an advisory to all flagged operators with ships in the affected area, they were requested to forward the advisory to their ships and to be on the look out for the destroyed vessel and particularly the two life rafts.
In an follow up report received by OCEANUSLive on 28 June, it was confirmed that the first life raft with 10 crew [amended to 14 in later report] had been recovered, but the second life raft had been found with two dead bodies onboard. The rest of the 15 crew members remain unaccounted.
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Submitted by Team@oceanuslive.org