# Lost over-board off Australia



## non descript (Nov 18, 2005)

Courtesy of Tradewinds ...

A very sad report entitled "One dead off Australia" and one can only think for all the people involved:

_ 
Australian search-and-rescue services have called off their search for a Chinese sailor who fell over-board from a Taiwanese bulk carrier off the country’s east coast on Saturday. 


The 51-year-old Chinese national is believed to have fallen from the deck of the Liberian-flagged 77,700-dwt YM Rightness (built 2004) after the ship left the New South Wales port of Newcastle en-route to Port Macquarie. 

But an intensive two-day search of an area covering 1,800 nautical square miles some 35km off the Australian coast was finally called off on Monday evening local time after medical reports suggested that a person could not survive so long in the sea with rough weather conditions. 


The bulk carrier, owned by Yang Ming Transport Corp of Taiwan, left Newcastle on Saturday but it was only on arriving at Port Macquarie later that day that crew members noticed the man was missing. 


Records from when the vessels departed Newcastle confirmed that he had been on-board the ship when it set sail for Port Macquarie. 


The ship retraced its path back to Newcastle in an unsuccessful effort to locate the missing crew member before alerting Australian authorities. 


A total of 15 aircraft and three helicopters were scrambled to the scene on Sunday but the search was abandoned after two days with the Chinese national presumed dead. 


The bulker will continue its voyage to Japan now that the rescue operation has ceased. 


Yang Ming has five other similarly-sized bulk carriers in its fleet together with 40 containerships. The company also has another 80,500-dwt bulk carrier on order at Universal Ship Building for delivery in 2008. _ 

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## GEORGE1 (Feb 5, 2006)

MELBOURNE-A Filipino sailer has died in a Melbourne hospital after a wave swept over the bow of his ship smashing him and a shipmate into its superstructure off Victoria's
south-west coaston on Wednesday 19/04/06


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## vix (Jan 2, 2006)

*Lost over-board off*



Tonga said:


> Courtesy of Tradewinds...A very sad report entitled "One dead off Australia" and one can only think for all the people involved:
> _ Australian search-and-rescue services have called off their search for a Chinese sailor who fell over-board from a Taiwanese bulk carrier off the country’s east coast on Saturday. The 51-year-old Chinese national is believed to have fallen from the deck of the Liberian-flagged 77,700-dwt YM Rightness (built 2004) after the ship left the New South Wales port of Newcastle en-route to Port Macquarie. But an intensive two-day search of an area covering 1,800 nautical square miles some 35km off the Australian coast was finally called off on Monday evening local time after medical reports suggested that a person could not survive so long in the sea with rough weather conditions. The bulk carrier, owned by Yang Ming Transport Corp of Taiwan, left Newcastle on Saturday but it was only on arriving at Port Macquarie later that day that crew members noticed the man was missing.
> Records from when the vessels departed Newcastle confirmed that he had been on-board the ship when it set sail for Port Macquarie. The ship retraced its path back to Newcastle in an unsuccessful effort to locate the missing crew member before alerting Australian authorities. A total of 15 aircraft and three helicopters were scrambled to the scene on Sunday but the search was abandoned after two days with the Chinese national presumed dead. The bulker will continue its voyage to Japan now that the rescue operation has ceased. Yang Ming has five other similarly-sized bulk carriers in its fleet together with 40 containerships. The company also has another 80,500-dwt bulk carrier on order at Universal Ship Building for delivery in 2008. _ +


Reading this, it looks to me as if the ship's captain made a mistake in not notifying the authorities immediately the man was reported missing? Vix


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## tunatownshipwreck (Nov 9, 2005)

vix said:


> Reading this, it looks to me as if the ship's captain made a mistake in not notifying the authorities immediately the man was reported missing? Vix


That's the first thing I thought. Incredible.


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## david (Oct 14, 2004)

*Lost over-board off australia*

Tonga,
This is a very strange item from "Tradewinds", whatever that [him/her] is.
The chances of a 77,700dwt vessel entering Port Macquarie,is about the same as the proverbial Camel passing thru the eye of a needle!!!
Port Macquarie is a holiday town on the North Coast of NSW and the biggest vessels in the area are fishing trawlers.
Something definately fishy here.
What is TRADEWINDS?
Regards,
David D. (Thumb)


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## non descript (Nov 18, 2005)

David,

You are quite correct in your comments on the unlikelyhood of a Panamax Bulker entering the very pleasant resort of Port Macquarie. 

My understanding is that _*YM Rightness * _ was en route from Newcastle to Japan laden with coal and made it about 100 miles north from her load port before discovering the awful fact that one of the crew was not on board. The newspaper report in _Tradewinds_ possibly took the fact the discovery was made off Port Macquarie and unfortunately assumed that this place was also the desination.

Newspapers are not infallible, and although this one tries harder than most, clearly they got it wrong this time; the paper is here: http://www.tradewinds.no

Kind regards
Tonga


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## exsailor (Dec 18, 2005)

Another tradgedy at sea - or was it? When working for a Hong Kong based company, we had a Chinese steward 'fall' overboard one night in the North Pacific. Weather at the time was fine, with moderate to rough seas - nothing unusual for the U.S-Japan run. Upon the man being noticed missing the following morning, we alerted the U.S Coastguard and Japanese Maritime authorities, went about and steamed a reciprocal track for some twelve hours. We were assisted by a Japan bound log ship and a Taiwanese fishing boat, but all to no avail. It was well known onboard that this particular steward had amassed huge debts and lost his landholding in China through participating in the nightly mah-jong gambling school the catering dept ran. The Japanese who investigated the matter on our arrival declared it an 'accident', though the 'rumour' was of 'not quite voluntary' suicide.


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