9 missing in boat collision off Taiwan

September 19, 2015 | 09:32

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Coastguard vessels and a team of rescue divers are searching the waters off Taiwan for nine missing fishermen after a fishing boat capsized following a collision with a gravel ship.

The upturned hull of a Taiwanese fishing vessel which collided with a gravel ship. (Photo source: Coast Guard Administration)

TAIPEI: A Taiwanese fishing boat capsized off the island's north coast on Friday (Sep 18) morning after colliding with a gravel ship, leaving all nine fishermen on board missing, officials said.

Six coastguard vessels and a team of rescue divers have been dispatched to the scene of the crash to search for the missing, along with a fleet of fishing boats, including a Taiwanese skipper, four Chinese ships and four boats from Indonesia.

"The water around the venue was full of fishing nets, making the search work by divers very difficult," Tseng Shu-feng, a coastguard official, told reporters.

According to the authorities, the accident happened when the fishing vessel Shih Hui 31 was sailing off Chuwei, a fishing port near Taoyuan city, in the early hours of Friday and collided with the 8,000-tonne gravel ship. However, officials have yet to provide details about what instigated the crash.

AFP

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