"engineering ship" breaks up in South China Sea

I was wondering about that too… perhaps they were in the front part of the boat, and it broke off and sank too quickly to evacuate??

That leads back to the previous question, though… why didn’t ship and crew prepare for an approaching typhoon which have given plenty of warning??

According to TradeWinds, the vessel was converted from heavy transport vessel Zhen Hua 20 which was a converted from a 1983-built crude oil tanker.

https://www.tradewindsnews.com/casualties/26-seafarers-feared-dead-after-offshore-wind-ship-breaks-in-two/2-1-1251899

While the names don’t match exactly (IMO 7826180 is Hua Jing 001, not Fu Jing 001), the deckhouse appears identical so it could as well be the same ship.

Lots of info in Polish (but luckily easily translated by Google Translate):

unfortunately:
" You need a subscription to read this story"
else only the first 3 sentences are visible…

Digital Premium Annual

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yeah… right…

I know. I don’t have subscription either - had to search Google word-by-word to see the vessel name in the preview. However, I still wanted to include the original source even though it’s behind paywall.

Later I came across that Polish page which I read through Google Translate.

The sunken vessel, ‘Fujing 001’, with a crew of 30, was at an anti-typhoon anchorage in waters near Yangjiang in Guangdong when its anchor chain snapped.

“Anti-typhoon anchorage”, odd phrasing, presumably an anchorage considered to be typhoon haven.

Maybe they should have waited for this one to come available:


Photo: China Classification Society

Previously know as the HLV ZHEN HUA 20:

Unless it was massively modified, though, HLV ZHEN HUA 20 differs substantially from our failed vehicle; in particular, the exhaust structure is behind the accommodation block, rather than in front and to the side as we’ve seen in these videos and images…

Yes that has

Yes that has been mentioned several times already.
She was recently converted to a Wind Turbine Installation Vessel (WTIV) (V = Vessel not Vehicle)
The bow was cut off, a large crane installed and no longer self-propelled. (IFAIK)
If the main engine is no longer in use there are no use for the large funnel she sported as a ship.
Here is a picture of the same vessel as tanker Sereno 2:


She has had many Owners and names (see History):

It is quite common to install new generators when making a major conversion and change of purpose, especially on older vessels.
If so, a new generator room may be constructed outside the old Eng.Rm., with new exhaust ducks to go with it. (as seen here)

The reason could be as simple as different roman spelling of the same Chinese signs.
(Pinyin vs. Traditional Romanized. I.e. Bejing vs. Peking)

PS> Fu Jing (傅菁) is also the name of a Chinese actress: