The 600-foot long ship was stranded just a few hundred feet from shore. Curious onlookers gathered onshore to watch rescue operations near the English city of Falmouth.
China's expansion into European ports is part of its new Maritime Silk Road, which aims to better connect the country to global commercial hubs. But this is about more than just moving cargo.
Container giant Maersk will send one of its ships through the Arctic on the Northern Sea Route to test its feasibility as a new, time-saving shipping lane.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a data recorder transcript from the cargo ship El Faro, which sank last year after it sailed into a hurricane. All 33 people on board died.
Dozens of giant container ships are bobbing around the oceans with no place to dock, after a South Korean shipping company went bankrupt. The stranded cargo may include as many as 500,000 containers.
The global shipping industry is suffering a huge downturn, thanks in part to China's sagging economy. "This is likely to be one of the worst years ever in terms of losses," says an industry expert.
Authorities lost contact with the El Faro, a 790-foot cargo vessel, after it sent an satellite distress message amid hurricane-force winds and waves in the Bahamas.
The 735-foot "roll on, roll off" vehicle carrier El Faro hails from Puerto Rico. The vessel was en route from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan when it issued an emergency satellite communication.