Cargo barge that caused crane collapse in Taiwan's Keelung port runs aground in bad weather

A cargo barge that became involved in a crane strike incident at the Port of Keelung in Taiwan three weeks prior ran aground in bad weather off the country's northern coast on Thursday, October 31.

The China-flagged Yuzhou Qihang had just left Keelung and was en route to China's Fujian province when it encountered rough sea conditions that caused it to drift and run aground some 4.5 kilometres from shore on the morning (local time) of Thursday.

All 17 crewmembers abandoned ship as the weather deteriorated over the next few hours. They were eventually pulled out of the water by a Taiwan Coast Guard Administration patrol vessel that had diverted to the area to render assistance.

The grounding occurred as Typhoon Kong-Rey swept through northern Taiwan. Some tugs that had been despatched to participate in the salvage effort were forced to turn back, as the resulting weather conditions in the area had made navigation difficult for smaller vessels.

No oil spills have been detected in the surrounding waters. However, work has already begun to syphon diesel, heavy oil, and lube oil from the barge's cargo and fuel tanks.

The earlier incident involving Yuzhou Qihang saw the barge strike one of the gantry cranes at Keelung's Pier 20 as it arrived at the port on October 14. The crane then collapsed onto and ended up crushing one container on the pier, though there were no casualties among the personnel present at the time.

The barge was travelling at a speed of 1.9 knots and the overspeed warning alarms were not triggered. Local authorities estimate the damage caused by the mishap to be in the area of NT$300 million (US$9.3 million).