General cargo vessel Fu Shun has sunk as Tyhpoon Gaemi causes devastation across Taiwan, with many other vessels also affected.
Typhoon Gaemi has brought flooding, high winds and treacherous waves to Taiwan as it blew through the northern part of the country today, having already killed 25 in Philippines.
The Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) reported that the Fu Shun began listing about 19 nautical miles off Kaohsiung around 5.45 am and sank about an hour later.
A distress call was sent at 6.30am this morning warning that the boat was sinking. Nine Myanmar crew members fell overboard.
Six crew members are still missing.
Taiwan News reported: “Rough seas and high winds hampered search and rescue efforts. Authorities said they would monitor weather conditions and deploy rescue teams as soon as possible.”
According to VesselFinder, the Tanzanian-flagged freighter measures 56 meters and weighs 599 gross tonnes.
Further, The Guardian reported that an oil tanker, MT Terra Nova, also capsized about 7km off the coast off Limay municipality in Bataan province in the early hours of Thursday.
The vessel was carrying 1.4m liters of oil.
Philippines authorities are reportedly trying to contain the oil spill that threatens to be the biggest in Philippines history, should all the oil leak.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communication reported that five other ships had run aground around Taiwan’s coast, but the crew are safe.
The vessels include Indonesian-flagged cement carrier Iriana, Mongolian-flagged general cargo ship Basia, Tanzanian-flagged general cargo ship Xin Li, Cameroon-flagged Gian and Portuguese-flagged Sofia.
Typhoon Gaemi is now headed to mainland China.
The Independent reported: “The storm has weakened after landfall in Taiwan but is still packing maximum sustained winds of 140kmh near the centre and gusts up to 215kmh, equivalent to a category 3 hurricane.”