P.M. BRIEFING : Cargo Ship Sinks With 913 Cars
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TOKYO — A Panamanian cargo ship carrying 913 new Toyota and Nissan cars collided with a Chinese tanker and sank in the Seto Inland Sea off western Japan this morning.
The 7,628-ton auto carrier Orange Coral collided with the 2,785-ton Shamrock Ocho 4 miles off western Japan in a dense fog.
The 18 South Korean crewmen on the cargo ship were rescued by a nearby ship, but it will be more than a week before salvage crews can raise the vessel, a spokesman for the Maritime Safety Agency said.
“The cars will be returned to the car companies, but there is no hope they can be used again,” he said.
The Chinese tanker was damaged, but its cargo of light oil did not leak.
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