Asian-Empire

A patrol boat from the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) has arrived at the site of the drifting EUKOR Car Carrier's Asian Empire last night at 21.00 local time. No flames, smoke or signs of pollution were seen in the vessel, and its hull temperature was down to 24-25 degrees Celsius according to JCG's reports on the readings from a remote heat measuring instrument. Two salvage tugs from Taiwan and Japan were dispatched by an appointed salvage company and were expected to arrive on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Previously, fire broke out in Asian Empire on 19 April 2014, around 480nm south of Tokyo, Japan while it was en route to China. The crews of 25 personnel were evacuated from the ailing vessel via life boats and now are safe and in good condition on board Asian Adonis, which happened to trade in the vicinity of the incident. Asian Adonis will make a port-of-call in Saipan before repatriating the safe return of the largely Filipino and South Korean crews to the Philippines and South Korea within the next few days.

April 19 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean cargo ship caught fire Saturday in the Pacific Ocean off Japan's Wakayama Prefecture but all crew members are safe, local press reported. Japan's Fourth Regional Coast Guard Headquarters received an emergency call at around 5:30 p.m. local time saying that the South Korean cargo ship caught fire while sailing in the Pacific Ocean about 740 kilometers southeast of Shionomisaki in Wakayama Prefecture, the report said, adding that all 24 crew members including 11 South Koreans and 13 Philippines escaped by lifeboats. The 71,383-ton cargo ship "Asian empire", which carries vehicles, is believed to be drifting in the ocean, and Japan's Coast Guard has dispatched patrol boats to search for the ship, according to the report.