Ship sinking: China urges Australia to step up search efforts

China demands more resources from Australia. She is asking for more planes, ships and rescuers to find the 39 crew members of a Chinese fishing boat that sank in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday.

The ship Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, carrying 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and 5 Filipinos, capsized around 3 am Tuesday Beijing time in the Chinese capital (9 pm Paris on Monday), state-run CCTV reported. “To date, not a single person has been found alive,” said Xiao Qian, the Chinese ambassador to Canberra, Australia’s capital.

“More planes, more ships and more personnel”

An international search and rescue operation is currently underway to find 39 missing people. Xiao Qian said that Australia has already sent three planes and four ships to assist in search operations in the flooded area, located 5,000 kilometers west of Perth in southwestern Australia. “We want them to send more planes, more ships and more personnel to the area,” he insisted. For its part, China sent two commercial vessels to participate in the search operation, CCTV reported.

Australia is organizing rescue operations and is in contact with Chinese authorities, a spokesman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. The devices, including an Australian military aircraft, have combed an area of ​​12,000 km2 south of where the boat remains were found, as part of a “multinational” effort. A fishing boat distress beacon was spotted as Cyclone Fabian produced waves of 7m and winds of 120km/h.

According to the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, the vessel was owned by the Chinese fishing company Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co and was licensed to fish for flying squid and Pacific sardines.

The vessel left Cape Town, South Africa on May 5 for Busan, South Korea, according to tracking website MarineTraffic, which last spotted the vessel on May 10 southeast of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.