14 Sailors Rescued From Runaway Cargo Ship, China Thanks To Russia

The cargo ship Rise Shine. (Source: FleetMon/HarryS)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government has thanked Russia for successfully rescuing 14 of its citizens from a ship that ran aground on Thursday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Wang Wenbin, thanked Moscow during his regular briefing, for successfully rescuing 14 Chinese sailors from a cargo ship that ran aground off the coast of Nakhodka, Russia.

"On November 9, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship ran aground in bad weather around Nakhodka, a town in Primorsky Krai in Russia's the Far East, ending up in a dangerous situation. There were 14 Chinese nationals on board", Wang was quoted as saying by TASS on November 12.

According to Wang, after receiving an emergency call from the ship, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations immediately sent a helicopter with an emergency response team to the ship's location.

"All 14 Chinese nationals were rescued and are now safe. The hull was damaged, but the ship did not sink. No casualties were reported. We would like to express our gratitude for the rescue operation to the Russian agents involved", Wang continued.

"China's foreign diplomatic services operating in the area are aware of the incident and are taking appropriate steps", Wang added.

To note, the cargo ship Rise Shine ran aground off the coast of Nakhodka Tuesday morning. The hull is cracked, but still stable. The crew of the ship consisting of 14 Chinese nationals was successfully evacuated.

An immediate evacuation and rescue operation was launched, with the ship manned by 14 Chinese nationals and there were cargo containers on board. The ship is a Panamanian-flagged ship. According to open-source data, it is 101 meters long and 19 meters wide.

"The Far East Transport Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into incidents involving foreign vessels in the Sea of Japan", the press service said in a statement, adding "there were no Russian nationals among the 14 crew members".