Chinese Coastal Bulker Grounds and Breaks Up off Fuzhou

[Brief] A Chinese bulker has grounded and broken up in Xinghua Bay, off the coast of Fuzhou.

On November 27, Hua De 858 departed the Caofeidan port district of the city of Tangshan, on the Bohai Sea. It transited southbound past Ningbo and Fuzhou, throught the Haitan Strait, according to AIS data provided by Pole Star Global.

At about 1015 hours GMT on December 3, Hua De 858 went aground on a shoal between Xiaori Island and Dasheyu Island, in Xinghua Bay. The vessel then broke apart, according to Chinese maritime safety authorities. The crew were uninjured, and were quickly rescued by first responders, but images from the scene show that the freighter's hull cracked in two amidships. The vessel's AIS signal has since dropped off commercial tracking services

Hua De 858 is a Chinese coastal freighter operating in domestic trade, with no known IMO number or international trading pattern.