On 5 May 2014, the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

''Zhong Xing 2'' and the

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

''MOL Motivator'' collided off

Po Toi Po Toi (commonly , originally ) is the main island of the Po Toi Islands and the southernmost island of Hong Kong, with an area of 3.69 km². Name It is said that the island used to produce dried seaweeds (), which were shaped like the catt ...

Island near

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, resulting in ''Zhong Xing 2'' sinking. All but one of ''Zhong Xing 2'' twelve-man crew were left missing and presumed dead; a rescue operation was conducted by

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

authorities, and a fishing vessel rescued one man, ''Zhong Xing 2'' sole survivor.

Background

The accident involved the , 79,400-ton

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Mitsui O.S.K. Lines ( ja, 株式会社商船三井, Kabushiki-gaisha Shōsen Mitsui; abbreviated MOL) is a Japanese transport company headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest shipping companies in the world. ...

container ship ''MOL Motivator'', registered in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

with a crew of 24, and the Chinese ship ''Zhong Xing 2'', carrying a cargo of cement with twelve crew. ''MOL Motivator'' was travelling from Hong Kong to

Yantian Yantian District () is one of the nine districts of the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It is adjacent to Shenzhen River and Hong Kong to the south, and is surrounded by Luohu, Longgang and Pingshan districts of Shenzhen. Before 1960s, th ...

, while ''Zhong Xing 2'' was travelling from

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...

Accident

The collision occurred around 2:30 local time on the morning of 5 May, to the southwest of

Island. Poor visibility has been blamed for the collision, after heavy rain fell through the night, and Hong Kong experienced a "powerful" thunderstorm. Heavy rainfall and lightning may have caused problems with the ships' radars.

Rescue efforts

A fishing vessel passing by rescued a man in his forties from mainland China; 25 minutes later, he was taken to

Ruttonjee Hospital Ruttonjee Hospital is a district general hospital in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is affiliated with the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Hong Kong, and provides clinical attachment opportunities for the u ...

Wan Chai Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to th ...

, where he was treated for minor scratches. A rescue attempt spanning naval and aerial searching was launched, co-ordinated by the Guangdong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre. A fixed-wing aeroplane, seven

Hong Kong Marine Police The Marine Region is a branch of the Hong Kong Police Force, more widely known as the Marine Police. The marine police patrol of waters within the territory of Hong Kong, including 263 islands. The Marine Region with about 3,000 officers, and ...

vessels, three

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

s, two diving vessels and a helicopter belonging to the

Government Flying Service The Government Flying Service (GFS) is a disciplined unit and paramilitary flying organisation of the Government of Hong Kong. The service has its head office in, and operates from, the southwestern end of Hong Kong International Airport at ...

of Hong Kong, more than ten Chinese vessels, and three Chinese helicopters, were sent in search of the missing vessel. The crew of a helicopter observed an oil slick and floating debris, but no survivors. It is considered possible that the ship sank with only one survivor, the other eleven men trapped on board, and they are "feared dead".

References

{{2014 shipwrecks Ships sunk in collisions Maritime incidents in 2014 2014 in Hong Kong Cargo ships Container ships May 2014 events in China Shipwrecks of Hong Kong