Chinese ship Tong Cheng suffers cracked hull; stops in Hawaii

[Magogman]

The 485 foot long Chinese merchant vessel Tong Cheng, enroute to the Caribbean Sea from Busan, South Korea, experienced a 56 inch long crack in its hull an eight of an inch wide below the waterline under the No. 2 cargo hold.  The ship entered United States waters and stopped off Oahu Island in Hawaii to request permission to enter the harbor at Honolulu for repairs.  The U.S. Coast Guard initiated efforts to pump water out of the ship to lessen its draft so it could enter Barbors Point Deep Draft Harbor for emergency repairs.

The ship's maifest submitted to U.S. officials stated that the ship carried general cargo including plywood, steel as well as an unspecified amount and unspecified type of ammunition.  The presence of the ammunition has caused major concerns by U.S. Coast Guard and Customs officials who suspect the ammunition to be destined for Cuba.  The U.S., which does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba, has an embargo on any cargo leaving a U.S. port destined to Cuba.

The Tong Chen is currently (Jan 26, 2007) located approximately one mile off the coast of Oahu.  There is little doubt that the Chinese flagged vessel will be allowed into the harbor for emergency repairs to the crack, believed to be caused by a storm enountered by the Tong Chen.

Speculation is that the ship will return to China for permanent repairs after emergency repairs are made in Hawaii.

[Marcelo Lopes]

Sad heard about Tong Cheng

Attended this vessels so many times during 1991-1994 when become Ships agent attending Cosco

This nice Mitsui Concord 18 class vessel always in time crewed by nice guys and leave a lot of friends there

She was my last Cosco vessel when leave the company on April 1994

Brgds
Marcelo

[Magogman]

Here is the latest info I could obtain on the Tong Chen:

first, EXCELLENT color photos and video, to include underwater photos of the crack in the hull, and aerial views can be seen at the U.S. Coast Guard's Hawaii web site
"www.uscghawaii.com/".

The Tong Chen received temporary repairs to the cracked hull while at Anchorage B.  These repairs were done by a team of U.S. Navy divers from Mobile Diving Salvage Unit One.
(Editorial comment from an old Cold War warrior: how the times have changed!  A U.S. Navy team repairing a Chinese ship!)

The vessel then was moved to Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor for additional repairs.  The Tong Chen was escorted by several Coast Guard vesels and helicopters, to include pollution response vessels.

The Tong Chen was destined for Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Panama but now will return to China for further inspections and repairs.

There is now some doubt as to whether the intitial reports that the vessel was carrying ammunition were correct.  The Coast Guard is reviewing the manifest to determine if hazardous materials are aboard the ship and will also conduct a saftety inspection before the ship is released to return to China.

The Coast Guard is emphasizing that the ship and its crew were saved from potential diaster and no major spill of oil or other contaminents occurred.

Again, I highly recommend looking at the photos on the Coast Guard's Hawaii web site; they are very good and include underwater views and aerial views.