By Qian Lingli, Huang Hai and Xu Congjun
At 21 February noon, Qi Yu Jiu Yuan 1 which carried 16 Fujian fishermen who were rescued berthed at Lvsi fishing port new harbour fishery administration wharf.
Got off the rescue ship, the crew greeted the staff of Lvsi government and Qidong fishery administration with a smile. It is like the bright weather fled from fierce wind and waves on the sea, the moment they stepped on the bank, their worries which had been there for the whole night were eased and their emotion was settled finally.
At about 10 pm on 19 February, Fujian Min Lian fishing transportation 60778 ship encountered huge waves at about 114 nautical miles northeast to Dafeng in the south of Yellow Sea, water went in the engine room, power was lost, and the ship was inclined severely. It was possible to sink at any time. 16 crew’s lives were in danger. The situation was very critical. At about 7 nautical miles southeast to the fishing boat in distress, Su-Qi fishery 02266, 02255, 02211, 02299 which were anchored immediately weighed anchors after receiving the distress signal. They increased power, went there at full speed, while there was level 9 wind and 3-4 m high waves, and a lot of danger. Finally they reached the site at close to 11pm, saved 13 crew members on a life raft and captain, first office and chief engineer who were still on the ship, then the ship in distress sank.
Never expect such huge waves!’ thinking about the powerful wind and waves of the night on 19th, captain Zhou Hua still had a lingering fear, ‘I have never met this for many years, all of a sudden, a huge wave went in the engine room, and machinery equipment lost power soon, and water came into the cabin’, seeing the ship sinking and inclining, the crew looked for all ways to help but the engine did not response at all, a quarter, a half... the ship sank into the sea gradually, the crew were more nervous, and their legs were soaked in sea water. Under the emergency, 13 crew jumped on the life raft, waiting for rescue, only captain Zhou Hua, first office and chief engineer stayed, sending out distress signals continuously with the walkie-talkie on the ship. Under the night, coldness and fear grew...
Close to 11 pm late night, Su-Qi fishery 02266 ship which arrived the site first discovered and rescued 13 crew members on the life raft, the following Su-Qi fishery 02211 ship rescued the 3 people on the ship successfully, at that time three quarters of the ship in distress had sunken and the ship was sinking at a faster speed. The whole rescue took about half an hour. ‘If there was no in time rescue from Su-Qi fishery 02266, 02211, the consequence would be unimaginable.’ now, numbers 02266 and 02211 are deeply in Zhou Hua and the crew’s mind.
In the present, 16 rescued crew members have been arranged properly.
