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The body of a North Korean crew member who went missing following the collision of two cargo ships in the waters off Qingdao, China last Friday was found yesterday morning, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.
The two freighters, both flying Panamanian flags, collided on the 28th at around 7:35 in the evening, resulting in the sinking of the 2750-ton ‘Oriental Sunrise’. The next morning, the sunken ship’s mast was visible above the waterline.
Nine of the nineteen North Korean crew members on board the ship were rescued at the time, while ten were registered missing. One of the rescued nine later passed away, two are still in hospital and the remaining six are being put up at a local hotel.
Search-and-rescue units dispatched from Qingdao have not been able to locate the other missing crew members, and the situation now looks bleak.
Meanwhile, the other vessel, the 336m ‘Hamburg Bridge’, is now under investigation at anchor in waters near where the accident took place. There is also an oil slick of 200-300m in length and 10m in breadth at the scene of the collision.
The exact cause of the incident has yet to be established.
