Search for Seamen Continues
An air search continued Saturday for 47 seamen reported missing from two ships that sank in a tropical storm near Hong Kong.
The missing seamen were aboard the Maltese freighter Andersen and the Honduras-registered ship Feng Huang Shan. They sank in the South China Sea on Friday, officials said.
One Filipino crewman from the 6,600-ton Andersen was rescued by a passing freighter Friday, but 23 other Filipinos and one Burmese crewman from the ship were missing. The rescued crewman was reported in good condition.
Officials said the air search was extended to include possible survivors from the Feng Huang Shang following a request from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
One survivor and two bodies from the Honduran ship were found by Chinese rescuers after the vessel with a crew of 26 sank outside Hong Kong waters.
Rescue officials were also searching for 14 Hong Kong and mainland Chinese fishermen whose boats sank in the storm, which battered Hong Kong with winds reaching 67 m.p.h.
The Andersen, en route to Guangdong province from Russia, gave no indication it was in distress when tropical storm Becky battered Hong Kong before moving toward southern China on Friday, officials said.
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