A coast guard ship has been sent to the area to look for the missing fishing boat.
Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee on Wednesday morning sent an urgent letter to the National Committee for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue asking for helicopter support to search for the missing fishermen of the fishing boat BTh 97478 TS which lost signals on July 10.
The move came after four crew members of the boat were rescued on July 19 by another fishing boat numbered BD 96935 TS owned by captain Le Thanh Toan who then informed the Phan Thiet Radio Station. Toan said that they saw the four sitting on a small bamboo boat at around 1 pm. The four are Nguyen Thanh Luyen, Ha Van Tan, Tran Theo, and Tran Thuan Thanh who are aged between 36-55.
The four fishermen, who were in very weak health conditions, said after their boat sank, they took two small bamboo boats that they brought with them and separated into two groups of eight and seven members. They belonged to the seven-member group but three of them had died and they had to leave their bodies at sea.
Local authorities are co-operating with concerned agencies to rendezvous with boat BD 96935 TS to take the rescued fishermen ashore.
Boat BTh 97478 TS owned by Bui Van Toan, 51, left Phan Thiet Port with 15 crew members on board for fishing on June 21. It lost signal at 5 am on July 10 at the position some 84 nautical miles Northwest of Phu Quy Island. At that time there were strong winds and high waves of between 2-4 metres.
A coast guard ship has been sent to the area to look for the fishing boat. Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee have also sent urgent notices to relevant agencies and other fishing boats operating in the area calling for their joint efforts to look for the missing boat.
