As smart as the Chinese can be, they still seem unable to grasp the concept of ballast.
Chinese junks are known for capsizing.
Large sailboats have heavy, deep, keels to keep the bottom side down when under sail or not.
Sometimes commercial boat captains would load the deepest parts of the hull with large stones to keep the bottom side down.
A local 24 foot racing sail boat was of a poorly ballasted design. The hull was blue. The name
of the boat was Blue Side Down.

The subject of the article had experienced heavy losses. Undesired boats sometimes get scuttled.

Scuttling
Ship
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of ... Wikipedia

Yeah, my guess it that the weather was a convenient excuse and somebody pulled the stopcocks, so to speak.

I haven't followed this story but interesting information, Chas.