A seafarer on a South Korean-owned chemical tanker, Kelsey 2, died after the ship sank off Kinmen, Taiwan, on 15 October, after suffering water ingress.
All 20 seafarers had abandoned the 2002-built 8,424 dwt Kelsey 2 and jumped into water when the ship began sinking, but not before sending a distress signal.
The Taiwan Coast Guard and the China Coast Guard evacuated all of them on their helicopters, but one seafarer, a Myanmar national, fell unconscious and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Kelsey 2 capsized and became fully submerged at 2 pm (local time) the same day.
Taiwan’s Maritime Port Bureau is speaking to the surviving crew to find out more about the incident. Vessel-tracking data shows that Kelsey 2, acquired by Wooshin Marine in 2016, departed Hong Kong on 12 October, bound for Gunsan, South Korea. Media reports stated that the Kelsey 2 was loaded with 4,000 tonnes of phenol and 3,500 tonnes of base oils.
The Maritime Port Bureau said that it had received a distress signal from Kelsey 2 around 3.54 am (local time) on 15 October. At the time, the ship was 14.5 nautical miles from Kinmen and crew had reported water entering the stern. Preliminary investigations suggest that the water entry point was in the crew cabin.
Data from the vessel indicated that the water ingress could have started on 14 October, as Kelsey 2 had begun reducing its speed that day.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
