Official: 2 Chinese sailors die, 2 hurt in Pacific

seattlepi.com ^ | Sunday, May 4, 2014

[Jet Jaguar]

Active Duty ping.

Airmen rescue Chinese sailors.

[Jane Long]

Hu’s on first?

[BenLurkin]

I’m glad our guys were curious enough to know what was going on that they went and got these guys.

[mylife]

What were they doing there?
Marlin fishing?

[mylife]

It is a big watery world and the international waters are supposed to be open, but I do question why these guys came so far.

[jttpwalsh]

Agreed - I am thinking this was as much intelligence gathering, as humanitarian, in nature.

[Veto!]

Chinese, VEnezuelans, Americans and everyone else are looking for MH370? The Pacific near Cabo is no less logical than the South Indian Ocean..

[BenLurkin]

Nice!

[Cold Heart]

Because that is where the fish are.
Really, that is why.
Probably tuna.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[TaMoDee]

Check a map. The Panama Canal make it really a short boat ride.

[USNBandit]

This is the second time in the last month I’ve heard of Air Force or Air Guard para-rescue jumping to a vessel to provide advanced medical support. This type of operation is full of risk and these men deserve a lot of respect.

[BenLurkin]

Apparently the fees at the canal aren’t so much as to make a fishing voyage unprofitable.

[Rodamala]

Oh my... that first link... wow, God is good.

[BenLurkin]

Bump!

[Grams A]

I just thought it was rather strange as to how Chinese sailors and a Venezuelan “fishing vessel” could have been in the same area at the same time.

[Cvengr]

A lot of Chinese in the Panama Canal zone. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was a large market of Chinese sailors for hire in Central America.

[Jane Long]

Agree. And, nearest to Mexico (or, at least that was the landmark mentioned).

[JimRed]

The Panama Canal make it really a short boat ride.

One hell of a toll plaza, though!

[JimRed]

Ships pay a toll for passage through the Panama Canal as follows. For example, based on charges updated on May 1, 2007 container ships pay a fee for passage through the Panama Canal based on capacity to carry shipping containers measuring twenty feet by eight feet by 8 and a half feet. For each twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) a ship pays $54. For a large container ship with a capacity of 4,400 TEU’s the toll to pass through the Panama Canal would be 4,400 X $54 = $237,600.

Smaller boats going through the Panama Canal are assessed a fee by length with boats less than fifty feet in length paying $500. Boats over 100 feet in length pay fees of $1,500 to pass through the Panama Canal.