The 39,454gt/2012 built and 4,200 capacity car carrier Viking Emerald ran aground on 14th November on the Washington side of the Columbia River, while heading from Tacoma to Portland. The ship is owned by Norway’s gram Car Carriers and managed by OSM Ship Management in Singapore. The incident was caused by a steering failure and the vessel was later refloated.

A few days later the un-laden tanker Zi Yun 1 collided with a sand carrier, the Guo Liang 399, near Zhoushan, China, on 23rd November, leading to the sinking of the sand carrier. The eight crew members aboard the sand carrier had to jump into the water as she sank. Four were rescued but four were missing. The Zi Yun 1 is operated by Zhejiang Longyu Shipping while the Guo Liang 399 is operated by Wuhu Guoliang Shipping. Four days earlier the bulk carrier Hua Chun 19 sank in the Yellow Sea near Lianyungang whilst carrying 4,000 tonnes of steel products from Qingdao to Guangzhou. Five of the eleven crew were rescued but six were missing.