20 seamen rescued in Yangtze River ship crash

Two foreign ships crashed Wednesday near Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai, in which no casualty was reported and all the 20 seamen fallen in water were rescued, said the source with Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration.

A Cypriote ship named Pontomenbon came into collision with a Cambodian ship named Seabreath at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday 1,500 meters north of the estuary's northern borderline, making the latter sink immediately, said the source.

Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration organized the rescuing operation under the assistance of local maritime salvage center and sent ships to clean the oil pollution caused by the sinking.

No casualty is reported in the accident and all the 20 Russian seamen who fell into water have been rescued by 0:15 a.m. Thursday.

The unloaded Seabreath, measuring 80 meters long, was heading for Japan, while the 185 meter long Pontomenbon loaded with 25,419 tons of iron ore was steered from eastern Zhejiang Province to Jiangsu, the source said.

The Cypriote ship is now anchored at Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai.

The cause of the accident is under further investigation.

Source: Xinhua