Four missing after installation vessel tilts at Huizhou Gangkou I
July 2021Published 6 Oct 2026
Companies named in this entry: China General Nuclear Power Group
What happened
On 25 July 2021 the wind turbine installation vessel Sheng Ping 001 tilted while being used in the final phases of construction at China General Nuclear Power Group's 250MW Huizhou Gangkou I offshore wind farm in the South China Sea. The vessel, owned by Tianjian Jincheng Offshore Engineering, had 65 people on board. Xinhua reported that the alert was raised with the Guangdong Provincial Maritime Search and Rescue Centre at 11.26am.
About 30 rescue vessels and helicopters took part, and the State Oceanic Administration's South China Sea Forecast Centre was tasked with drift predictions. By 3.30pm, 61 people had been rescued and four were missing. The vessel had recently been converted from the jack-up offshore construction vessel Teras Fortress 2. The wind farm had been under construction since December 2018, and its first turbines had come online earlier in 2021. A cause was not reported.
Contributing factors
The source does not give a cause. It does say the vessel had recently been converted from a jack-up offshore construction vessel into a wind turbine installation vessel.
Lessons learned
- Treat a vessel newly converted for turbine installation as a changed asset, and verify its stability and jacking arrangements before it works at a wind farm.
- Keep the number of people on an installation vessel to those the task needs, because everyone on board is exposed if the vessel tilts.
- Agree search and rescue arrangements, including drift prediction, with the maritime authorities before construction work far offshore.
Published 2026-10-06. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.