A cruise ship, the Eastern Star, sank at around 9:28 p.m. on June 1 in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River. 406 passengers, five travel agency workers and 47 crew members were onboard when the tragedy struck. So far, only 14 survivors have been found, and after five days of intensive rescue operation against the clock, the hope of finding more survivors is slim. Questions have been raised concerning this maritime disaster and the ensuing rescue, and here are the answers to some of the most significant ones.

1.

Q: What caused the accident?

A: The exact cause of capsize is yet to be determined. Certain analysis however indicates that the high center of gravity of the Eastern Star, which had a high superstructure as a result of refurbishment and shallow draft for inland river navigation, made it vulnerable to strong winds. The cyclone that flipped the ship on that fateful night was more than a 12-scale according to meteorologists.

2.

Q: Why was no Mayday signal sent by the Eastern Star?

A: The Eastern Star was not equipped with an automatic distress call sending system because in China it is not mandatory for all ships to have such a system. The quick overturn of the ship left the crew with little time (the ship sank "within one or two minutes" after being caught in a cyclone, according to the ship's captain and chief engineer) to activate a distress signal. Neglect on the part of the crew could also be blamed for the failure of sending out the call for help.

3.

Q: How difficult is the rescue operation? Why have so few survivors been found?

A: The four-deck ship was submerged upside-down under water. To right the 76m-long and 2,200-tonne ship presented a tremendous challenge for the rescue operation. The muddy water of the Yangtze and complex structure of the ship also put the lives of divers looking for survivors in the hull at risk.

Most of those onboard the Eastern Star were unable to escape the sinking ship because it sank so quickly. Another factor contributing to the high death toll is that the majority of the ship's passengers were elderly holidaymakers whose chance of surviving the disaster on a rainy night was small.

4.

Q: Why wasn't the hull cut earlier?

A: The fact that the bottom of the Eastern Star floated above water indicated the presence of trapped air inside the ship. If holes were cut recklessly in the ship, the air inside the ship would leak, probably leading to the ship losing balance or even sinking more quickly, which would defeat the purpose of the rescue. So the ship had to be properly secured before any cutting was to go ahead. Getting the equipment necessary for securing the ship and cutting holes in it also took time. Moreover, cutting random holes in the ship might puncture air pockets in the ship and endanger the lives of survivors trapped there.

5.

Q: Why wasn't the ship righted earlier? Why did the rescuers wait until 72 hours after the accident to hoist the entire ship out of water?

A: Turning over the capsized ship might injure the survivors inside. Therefore, keeping the ship stable was crucial to keeping alive the hope of finding more survivors. Wang Zhigang, a maritime expert who led the rescue operation on the frontline, said that 72 hours is a threshold: before 72 hours had passed since the ship capsized, the rescue was focused on finding every last survivor of the disaster through such means as cutting holes in the ship to detect signs of life. After the 72 hours mark, there would no longer be any realistic chance of finding survivors in the ship. Turning over the ship after that point in time, therefore, shows respect to the lives of those onboard the Eastern Star.

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