The China-registered barge Yu Zhou Qi Hang, which knocked down a quay crane at Keelung Port in Taiwan two weeks ago, lost its ability to navigate due to severe weather and heavy load and was abandoned as a result.
The ship left Keelung at 7:57 am local time on Tuesday for Zhangzhou in China’s Fujian province. It stalled some 4.5 km off northern Taiwan three hours later.
The captain gave out an order to abandon the ship later in the day as the wind and rain intensified. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration was able to rescue all 17 crew members from the vessel. A 100-tonne patrol boat returned the crew safely to Keelung Port around 10:05 pm local time on Tuesday.
According to the coast guard, the ship was carrying three gantry cranes and was hit by strong winds coming from the outer rim of the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey. It was unable to leave the area and gradually drifted closer to the shore near Yehliu.
Tugboats were dispatched to the scene but they had to turn back due to rough sea conditions.
This has been a very poor run of luck for the vessel in a very short period of time. It accidentally knocked down an existing quay crane at Keelung Port in Taiwan while docking to unload new cranes from China’s ZPMC, the world’s largest crane manufacturer.
In a badly calculated docking manoeuvre, one of the new cranes onboard the vessel toppled over the old one, crushing several containers on the quayside in the process. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries reported. However, the damage is estimated at around $9.3m.