Vietnamese boxship loses power, slams into crane

A feeder boxship slammed into a crane on the Long Tau river near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Sunday, resulting in the collapse of the crane onto the vessel, and significant damage to the the ship and many boxes, with four containers also reported to have fallen overboard.

The incident happened after the 2004-built 672 teu Phuc Khanh suffered an engine failure and lost its power when it was sailing upstream on the river. The out-of-control ship drifted, sending a barge into a spin prior to slamming into the crane.

The 4.7 km cable-stayed bridge linking Ho Chi Minh City with Dong Nai has been under construction since 2015. It forms part of the Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway project.

Following the incident, the ship was towed to a terminal in Ho Chi Minh City to avoid congestion on the navigation channel.

Ship registration information shows the vessel is operated by Vietnamese company Global Logistics Services.