Tag: Maritime Accidents and Safety

Bridge Collapses in Baltimore and Guangzhou Raise Questions on Modern Shipping

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Tuesday’s crash was at least the second in just over a month in which a container ship hit a major road bridge, raising questions about the safety standards of increasingly large ships and the ability of bridges around the world to withstand crashes. On Feb. 22 in Guangzhou, a port in southern China, a much smaller vessel carrying stacks of containers hit the base of a two-lane bridge, causing vehicles to fall. Officials said that five people were killed. The crashes have also raised questions about whether more ships should…

China’s Dispute With Taiwan Is Playing Out Near This Tiny Island

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A small island controlled by Taiwan a few miles off China’s coast lived for decades in constant readiness for war. At one point in 1958, troops there hunkered in bunkers as Communist forces rained hundreds of thousands of shells on them. These days, the island, Kinmen, has become a hub of Taiwan’s commerce with China and its abandoned, weatherworn fortifications are tourist sites. Eight ferries a day take Taiwanese businesspeople and visitors from Kinmen to mainland China. But the sea around Kinmen has again turned tense after two Chinese men…

Ship Crash Collapses Part of Bridge in China, Killing at Least 2

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Part of a bridge in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou collapsed after a container ship crashed into it, killing at least two people as vehicles plummeted, the local authorities said on Thursday. Three people were missing, according to the authorities, who said an empty container ship had hit one of the supporting columns of the two-lane Lixinsha Bridge, fracturing the surface. The crash occurred at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday in the Nansha district, and its cause was under investigation, the district said in a statement. Photos published by…

What It Feels Like To Be the Target of China’s Water Cannons

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The Filipino fishers on wooden boats waved at our vessel, a Philippine fisheries boat, from less than a mile away, but no one on our ship dared to move. Encircling us were two Chinese Coast Guard ships and five Chinese militia vessels. Then came the water cannon. One of the Chinese Coast Guard ships had fired the high-intensity water jet at our boat to prevent us from getting closer to fishermen near the Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks 140 miles west of the Philippines. The blast…

Navy Recovers Stealthy Jet From Deep in the South China Sea

Chin@Strategy

The Navy has recovered a stealthy F-35 warplane that fell into the South China Sea after it crashed while trying to land on a Navy aircraft carrier, the service announced on Thursday. The Navy’s Japan-based Seventh Fleet said a remote-operated vehicle attached lines to the plane, which was then lifted 12,400 feet to the surface of the ocean and winched aboard the deck of a civilian vessel called the Picasso that the Navy contracted to assist in the operation. “This deliberate approach resulted in the correct capabilities conducting recovery operations…

What Happens When a Stealth Jet Ends Up on the Ocean Floor?

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — On Jan. 24, one of the U.S. Navy’s most expensive warplanes crashed as it tried to land on an aircraft carrier and sank to the bottom of the South China Sea. The $94 million F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is now the subject of a salvage operation. In a statement issued on the day of the incident, the Navy said seven sailors had been injured when the jet suffered a “landing mishap” on the aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson. It did not mention that the plane had ended up…

U.S. Navy Fighter Jet Accident in South China Sea Injures 7

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An accident aboard an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea injured seven American sailors and led to the pilot ejecting from his F-35 fighter jet on Monday, the Navy said in a statement, calling it a “landing mishap.” The combat aircraft, a F-35C Lightning II, had been conducting routine flight operations before getting into difficulties on the deck of the carrier Carl Vinson, the statement said. The cause of the accident was unclear, but the Navy said it was being investigated. Though such incidents are unusual, it comes months…

A Century After the Titanic Sank, a Film Tries to Rescue 6 Survivors’ Stories

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Much about the Chinese sailors’ lives was influenced by the currents of history, including their presence on the Titanic to begin with. Labor strikes in Britain had left them without work, so their employer reassigned them to a North American route. The Titanic was supposed to take eight sailors as third-class passengers from Southampton, England, to their new ship in New York. When the liner struck an iceberg late on April 14, the eight men acted quickly. Five made it into lifeboats, but the other three fell into the subzero…