The sand carrier Dong He caught fire in the cargo hold on 75 nautical miles off Sasebo, Japan in East China Sea. The ship was on route from the Japanese port Nagoya to the Chinese port Haimen, when the the technical malfunction caused fire in the cargo hold. The crew tried to extinguish the fire, but without any success. After the fire started growing the duty officers sent a distress signal to the coast guard station. The 12 crew members on board were evacuated from the Patrol boat. The Japanese coast guard engaged 3 patrol boats from its fleet to start the salvage operations and firefighting. The coast guard station is leading the salvage operations of the sand carrier Dong He, but still the tugs have no control over the fire on board. The local authorities reported that all the crew members are in good condition and there are no serious injured people during the accident. There is no danger for the sinking of the vessel according to the current condition and perspectives of the situation.
The sank carrier Dong He (IMO: 8804103) has length of 88.00 m, beam of 13.00 m and draft of 3.60 m. The ship has summer deadweight of 1,156 DWT and gross tonnage of 2,327 GRT. The ship was built in 1989 in Japanese shipyard of Murakami Shipbuilding.