All 23 crewmembers aboard the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Run Fun 3 have been rescued after abandoning their sinking ship in the Indian Ocean.
The 172-m-long ship, built in 1997, departed Singapore and was sailing towards Togo when it began sinking due to an unknown cause of cargo hold flooding.
The crew who escaped on life rafts were drifting at sea and were picked up by another bulk carrier, the Maple Harbour – commercially managed by C Transport Maritime (CTM) and part of the Supramax RSA Fleet from Stone Shipping’s chartered-in fleet of vessels.
“The crew of the Run Fu 3 did everything possible to save their vessel, but at 08.15hrs local time, their captain made the decision to abandon ship,” CTM said.
The incident onboard Zhangjiagang Oceanicwit Shipping-owned 32,900 dwt bulker took place approximately 500 nautical miles south of the Maldives, the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.
Following the rescue, the Maple Harbour, owned by South Korea’s Hangang Global Shipping, headed to Port Louis, Mauritius, where the Run Fun 3‘s crew safely disembarked.
