Chinese cargo ship that run aground off Sakhalin to be cut apart

Chinese cargo ship An Yang 2 with 20 people on board ran aground off Sakhalin. Rescue operations had to be delayed amid harsh weather conditions.

The cause of the incident involving the Chinese vessel owned by Yangpu Anyang Shipping Co. Ltd., which ran aground off the coast of Sakhalin, was a crew error. Twenty sailors remain on board, waiting for specialized equipment to arrive.

The ship ran aground on the evening of February 8 while coal and fuel were being loaded with the captain's approval. During the loading process, crew members accidentally released the anchor, causing the vessel to drift onto a shoal.

A total of one ton of coal and 750 liters of fuel were loaded. The fuel tanks remain intact, and there is no risk of an oil spill.

Specialists arrived at the scene, but due to weather conditions, they are unable to pump out the fuel. 

The vessel is stuck in the ground deeply, so it will likely be cut apart to be removed from the shore.

Several ships have run aground near Sakhalin before. In 2004, an American merchant vessel named Christopher Columbus ran aground, resulting in a spill of 200 tons of fuel. The U.S. paid compensation, which was used for waterfront reconstruction. In 2021, a Chinese vessel also ran aground in the area.

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Sakhalin is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies 6.5 km (4.0 mi) off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An island of the West Pacific, Sakhalin divides the Sea of Okhotsk to its east from the Sea of Japan to its southwest. It is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast and is the largest island of Russia, with an area of 72,492 square kilometres (27,989 sq mi). The island has a population of roughly 500,000, the majority of whom are Russians. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks, and Nivkhs, who are now present in very small numbers.