Three containers from a FESCO boxship fell into the waters of the southern Chinese port of Nansha, after being hit by another ship.
At the time of the accident around 9.45 pm local time on 21 September, the FESCO ship, 1998-built, 1,748 TEU Vladivostok, was docked at Nansha Phase III Container Terminal and was in the middle of loading and unloading operations. The ship carries cargo between Vietnam, southern China and Vladivostok, Russia.
It is believed that a Chinese domestic container ship, Jiangxi Dexin Shipping’s newly built 2,070 TEU De Xin Shang Hai, was nearing the terminal after arriving from Hong Kong on its maiden voyage, and came into contact with Vladivostok.
The impact sent three boxes plunging into the water.
To prevent the floating containers from disrupting navigational safety and terminal operations, the Guangzhou Maritime Search and Rescue Centre sent two patrol vessels, Haixun 09077 and Haixun 09079, as well as two tugs, to recover the damaged containers from the water.
At 11.20 pm the same day, the crew on one of the tugs managed to attach two of the fallen containers to the side of Vladivostok, while the crew on the other tug reinforced the remaining container to prevent it from drifting further into the water, facilitating the subsequent salvage work.
At 2.45 am the following day, another salvage vessel arrived at the scene and began salvage operations. By 8.30 am, all three containers were recovered, allowing normal operations to resume at the terminal.
At the time of writing, both Vladivostok and De Xin Shang Hai remain anchored in Nansha, pending investigations and damage assessment.