Ministry monitors sunken Tanzania-flagged ship in Taiwan
DAR ES SALAAM: As the Taiwan rescue team continues to search for the sunken Tanzania-flagged cargo ship with nine crew members, the Ministry of Home Affairs and East African Cooperation is closely monitoring the incident through the country’s Embassy in Beijing, China.
On Friday, various global media outlets, including Aljazeera, DW, and BBC, reported the incident, which occurred after FU SHUN, the general cargo ship, left the southern port city of Kaohsiung when Taiwan was struck by Typhoon Gaemi.
As Tanzania’s flag was involved, the Daily News reached out to the Ministry’s Director of Government Communication Unit, Ambassador Mindi Kasiga, for a comment. She briefly responded, “The Ministry is closely monitoring the details through our Embassy in Beijing, China.”
According to a BBC report, Typhoon Gaemi brought relentless rain to the Philippines, where a tanker carrying close to 1.5 million liters of industrial fuel capsized.
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“Sixteen crew members of the Philippine-flagged MT Terra Nova have been rescued, while one remains missing,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
“Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall on Taiwan’s east coast on Wednesday, has killed three people and injured hundreds more on the island,” BBC quoted officials.
The Daily News Digital tracked some details of the FU SHUN ship, which is sailing under the Tanzanian flag, and found that the vessel was built in 1985.
According to the Vessel Finder website, as of Saturday afternoon, the 39-year-old freight ship’s latest position was at China Coast, according to details reported 37 hours earlier.
Further information revealed that the vessel was sailing at a speed of 4.3 knots.
“…is a General Cargo Ship built in 1985 (39 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Tanzania,” the Vessel Finder revealed.
The FU SHUN ship is recognized by the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) with registration IMO 8510221.
The sunken cargo ship’s Maritime Mobile Service Identity is MMSI 677069600.
