13 missing after cargo ship collides with fishing boat off Aomori

Poor souls. Nothing worse than falling into a winter sea.

judging by the picture of the above fishing boat, it would suggest that the fishing boat hit the other ship in the side, thus puncturing the cargo boat. What I find difficult to understand is why didn't the fish boat pick up any crew from the stricken ship? ok it might have sunk quickly, but surly they could have got off, either into a life boat, or jumped into the sea, the fishing boat must have known that they had a collision with another boat. I find it sad that the cargo boat crew all have lost their lives.

Brian.

Those are all relevant questions and I will try to second guess the answers.

I have actually watched a small freighter sink and it happens faster than you could imagine.

If the freighter was T-boned it could have quickly rolled onto its side and then inverted. (As in the sinking that I witnessed). The accident happened at 10:15 pm so everyone would have been inside somewhere.

Once inverted the ship will sink from the stern. Inside would be completely black.

The autoinflating life rafts would pop up, however the likelihood of anyone getting a lifejacket on before she went down are slim.

The Japanese fishing boat would have stood by and called for help.

It would have been dark, cold and a very confusing situation.

The Japanese ship's crew would not have known how badly their vessel had been damaged.

Maybe even injured crew (broken limbs?) aboard her.

The one Vietnamese survivor was most likely picked up by the Japanese fishing boat very soon after the collision.

A nightmare for all concerned.

Gary

Gary,

There are many scenarios that can play out... and not enough info here to make any assumptions on speed of sinking. Many cases collisioned vessels do not sink at speed and stay afloat for a number of hours or days or never sink at all. But some will sink quickly.

Depending on cargo, type of ship, loading, watertight bulkhead configurations, weather conditions, etc etc etc, no one will know until an AIB has thoroughly investigate. Until then it is assumptions based on a dodgy report by media that no nothing about maritime matters.

Your many assumptions could be correct but then again there could be many many more scenarios. However being a Belize registered vessel does not bode well for the cargo ship being upto snuff for class and more reputable registry regulations.

The one thing that you say that I am sure is correct:

It would have been dark, cold and a very confusing situation.

Been there, seen it and done it... absolutely terrifying.

Q. How could they collide - Surely they each were aware of the others location - onboard Radar ? And would have communicated ship to ship ?

Guo Xing 1 is an open deck scrap metal ship, if hit midships Gary's scenario is extremely probable. There are few watertight compartments and fully loaded it also would have very little freboard.

https://www.fleetmon.com/vessels/guo-xing-1_9368118_11218/photos/2631889/

RIP all souls lost at sea!

As it happened at 10:15pm, chances are most of the crew were asleep downstairs so, even after waking up, didn't have time to make their way up to escape.

The cargo ship was carrying 3,150 tons of scrap metal 

It looks like overweighted and was easy to sink.

it would suggest that the fishing boat hit the other ship in the side, thus puncturing the cargo boat. What I find difficult to understand is why didn't the fish boat pick up any crew from the stricken ship? ok it might have sunk quickly, but surly they could have got off, either into a life boat, or jumped into the sea, the fishing boat must have known that they had a collision with another boat. I find it sad that the cargo boat crew all have lost their lives

A t-boned ship (no matter how big) will often sink faster than you can believe, especially a cargo ship which probably isn't very watertight.

It happened at night, so most of the freighter's crew may have been asleep. And at night, it would be hard for the crew of a fishing boat (which isn't cut out for rescue operations) to spot any of the freigher's crew in the water.

Q. How could they collide - Surely they each were aware of the others location - onboard Radar ? And would have communicated ship to ship ?

One hypothetical scenario that could be a possibility (but not for certain). Would be one of the ships not having working navigation lights... Might sound ridiculous. But I have seen boats in the past without working port/starboard/both navigational lights. So that possibility can't be ruled out.

Either way. Regardless of what the investigation comes out with.. It's a very sad incident and a horrible way to die, and my thoughts are with those lost souls and their families back home who were most likely relying on their wages.

Q. How could they collide - Surely they each were aware of the others location - onboard Radar ? And would have communicated ship to ship ?

Communication by VHF for navigational purposes is not in accordance with the International Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea (what we refer to as the COLREGS). It's a dangerous practice.

(I am a ship captain)

Communication by VHF for navigational purposes is not in accordance with the International Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea (what we refer to as the COLREGS). It's a dangerous practice.

(I am a ship captain)

Specifically and most importantly crossing, overtaking situations, etc., which involve interaction with another vessel.

So much for the 安全第一 we can see written on that cabin-like structure at the front of the fishing trawler.

Many ships don't keep proper watches. It will be interesting to see if either ship had it's AIS on. I'll bet they didn't even have their radar on or if they did weren't on watch. I wonder if they even had their running lights on. I see ships turn off AIS all the time. And, it is common that bridge to bridge VHF communications are used to verify that one vesicle has the other in sight. Of course they may not have had a watch on the radio either. Or, maybe there was a language barrier. I will look forward to the results of the investigation.

Sea conditions might be a contributing factor in the accident . Will have to wait for investigation results. Language barriers too.

international sea laws mean ships have green and red side lights, ships have to steer to port of the red side lights but when crossing the starboard ship has right of way, no communication needed, more like no one was on watch paying attention, on both ships.