Beijing, June 24: A Chinese freighter loaded with steel plowed into an underwater object and sank off the eastern port of Wenzhou, leaving 11 crew members missing, a rescue official said today. The captain and a crew member were rescued by fishing boats soon after the accident, which occurred at around 2:00 am on Sunday, said an official at the Wenzhou Maritime Search and Rescue Center.
Rescuers have found no trace of the others and the search was being hampered by high winds and rough seas, he said. The ship, Shengxin 658, was carrying 2,100 tons of steel plate, he said, adding it wasn`t clear what it ran into, although a newspaper quoted the ship`s captain, Gao Jinfu, as saying the ship hit a sunken vessel.
The accident was the second deadly shipping disaster to strike China in about a week.
Authorities in central China are still searching for dozens of people feared drowned in the sinking of a ferry on the Yangtze River on Thursday. Official media on Sunday reported 49 people were still missing following the discovery of 10 bodies Bureau Report.