"engineering ship" breaks up in South China Sea

Interesting that Guardian is the only site (among my news-reading list) that mentioned this incident… crew of 30, most were not recovered…

[Dozens feared dead as ship sinks in South China Sea | Hong Kong | The Guardian]

Looks like some other outlets have posted/regurgitated the story now. No one has the name of the vessel though. Quite an odd design, particularly with the exhaust stack directly in front of the bridge windows.

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I have seen reports and video on NRK (Norway) and Al Jazeera.
This MAY have been a stationary (non-propelled) vessel?
Probably a FSO. or possibly FPSO (??) (With the processing equipment on the missing part):

Judging from the picture she may have been turret moored, with the turret under the tower close to the superstructure.
Something like the Petrojarl 1:
https://skipshistorie.net/Oslo/414Awilco/Tekster/OSL41419930100000PetrojarlI.htm

Old Salt Blog has some video here:

This looks odd for an FSO/FPSO, though… usually their decks are packed with piping running all over the place… this has nothing of the sort…

I was thinking that the blue structure looked like a drilling pipe support device, but on longer looks, there doesn’t appear to be anything inside the outer frame, so I think that is something else… However, the positioning of the exhaust stack in front of the bridge, does give the impression of a vessel that isn’t really expected to spend alot of time underway…

According to the ship’s name board, it was the Fujing 001.

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I have had a good look at thee photos and watched the video provided by the Guardian on line and just can’t quite accept that it is all real. That derrick looks like one which might have been used in Oklahoma in 1869. And as a Gorlash said there appears to be nothing in it. Could the picture be some sort of a composite, or a video of a model with the rescue helicopter being added? I can’t imagine what the point would be except to provide a reason for a lot of Chinese military vessels to be doing stuff in the China Sea, at present the centre of a lot of internatinal dispute. But if so who would put a funnel directly in front of the bridge. On the other hand who would REALLY put a funnel in front of the bridge. If it was actually some sort of FPSO the existing exhausts from their days as tankers are usually quite sufficient for the generators still in use.

FSOs don’t have a lot of pipes or equipment on deck. As you would know FSOs are mostly converted old tankers. They constantly receiving processed crude oil and/or condensate by pipeline and flexible risers from a processing unit/platform, storing it and pumping it to “export tankers” from time to time.
The blue tower is probably used as vent for the cargo tanks (possibly combined with emergency flare)
Usually turret moored, but some are on spread moorings.

PS> If this was a FPSO the part of the deck that would have held processing equipment has gone.

I thought the derricks was made of wood back than?? (You know “Wooden derricks and iron men”)

PS>The incident happened close to HK (Pearl River Delta Fields??) so not a disputed area.

Pre-breakup.

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Crane vessel!! I stand corrected. The “Blue tower” is simply the boom rest.

Looks fairly new. Do you have a name and details??

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She was the Fu Jing 001. Not a whole lot of information out there.
MMSI:414607000
Beam: 42.0 m
Length: 204.0 m
Crane Rating: 2000T

Apparently it was engaged in the construction of an offshore wind farm in Guangdong Province. Details are few and far between.

Someone on Reddit called it a wind tubine installation vessel.

removed due to new info

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From CNA today:
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/hong-kong-vessel-snap-two-storm-chaba-missing-crew-2787311

From a Chinese website:

This is the only picture I can find on their official website (in English):
https://en.cnoe.net/products_list.html
Nothing about the sinking in their News section.

Wow!! So what we saw in the video was the little part of her!! Impressive…

She really doesn’t look like she was intended to ride out a typhoon, though…

Her LOA was 204 m. so not a small vessel.
But no vessel is designed and built intended to ride out a Typhoon/Cyclone/Hurricane, whatever you prefer to call a Tropical Revolving Storm of this magnitude, especially if hemmed in by windmills and restricted in maneuvering, which MAY have been the case here.

PS> More to the point; why were they still out there? The Typhoon and it’s track was forecast days in advance.


From the general appearance of things it makes you wonder if this wasn’t a vessel conversion versus new construction.

Yes I agree. Looks like the bow is “missing”, but the rudder stock is still there.
Doubtful if the propeller is still in place though.
No IMO number found (yet)

Dozens missing, but in the video the ship is shown to be sinking with the lifeboats in their davits. I wonder why they weren’t deployed.