In May 2003, China announced that the entire ship's crew (70 people) had been killed aboard the Ming-class submarine 361 due to a mechanical malfunction.[6] The accident took place off the coast of Liaoning province in northeast China. The vessel was recovered and towed to an unidentified port, where the cause of the accident was identified. When the battery was running low, the submarine surfaced with a vent opening for oxygen, which was consumed heavily by the charging diesel engines.