On May 29, the 80 meter long cargo vessel Xingyun 789 broke-in-two and sank in Bohai Bay near the Tianjin Caofeidian oil field, China. The Xingyun 789 had been proceeding with a cargo of gravel/sand in Bohai Bay. The vessel had been battling rough conditions with strong winds and waves reaching 4 meters. Waves continuously swept over the decks allowing water ingress into the holds. A short time later the vessel was flooded and in danger of sinking. The vessel sent out a distress call requesting urgently to be rescued. Their call was received by the oil field authorities who dispatched two offshore supply vessels to the scene.
The offshore vessels arrived on scene and found the Xingyun 789 low in the water. As the rescuers got closer to the Xingyun 789, a large bang could be heard as the Xingyun 789 suffered structural failure at one of the cargo holds splitting the vessel in two. The hull failure was so sudden that 2 crew fell into the sea while 3 more were just able to hang on precariously to the stern section. The rescue boats pulled the two crew from the water and were able to rescue one off the stern. However, conditions were just too difficult to reach the remaining 2 crew on the stern. Authorities dispatched a rescue helicopter which was able to hoist the 2 remaining crew to safety. All the crew of the Xingyun 789 were receiving medical care. No further details reported.
