Five more fishermen have just been rescued after their boat sank off Binh Thuan 12 days ago.
Fishing boats in Binh Thuan. Photo by Danviet
The Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre of Region 3 announced on Friday afternoon that they had just received a call from the captain of a ship who said they had rescued five Vietnamese crew from a missing fishing boat that sank almost a fortnight ago.
"The captain said that while transporting goods from Egypt to China, they saw five Vietnamese fishermen drifting on a bamboo boat some 240 nautical miles east of Nha Trang City," the centre reported. "The Egyptian ship took the five fishermen who were in stable health onboard their vessel."
The rescued fishermen are captain Bui Van Toan (aged 50), and four crew members including Nguyen Van My (58), Bui Van Vinh (42), Le Van Dung (36), and Nguyen Thanh La (40).
One of the fishermen, Nguyen Thanh La, said that they belonged to a group of eight members who had to use the bamboo boat after their boat sank in high waves on July 10 while on the way back to Phan Thiet Port. However, three members could not survive and they had to leave their bodies at sea.
La added that another group with seven crew had managed to get on another bamboo boat but they then lost contact.
La was the younger brother of Nguyen Thanh Luyen who was among the four fishermen of the seven-member group rescued on July 19 at a position some 75 kilometres away from his boat. Three other members of this group had also died at sea. The four fishermen safely returned home on July 21.
Four fishermen are rescued on July 19
Binh Thuan authorities are verifying the information and plan to bring the fishermen home.
On July 12, a local woman, Tran Thi Phuong informed Binh Thuan Province authorities after she lost contact with captain Bui Van Toan and 14 crew members of the fishing boat BTh 97478 TS.
Phuong told local authorities that Toan called her on the morning of July 9 saying that they were returning to Phan Thiet Port on July 10. However, she could not contact him again on July 12 when the boat should have returned to port early that morning.
Data from 3rd Regional Marine Police showed that the boat lost signal at 5 am on July 10 some 84 nautical miles northwest of Phu Quy Island. At that time there were strong winds and high waves of between 2-4 metres.
Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee sent a coast guard ship to the area to search for the fishing boat. They also called for joint efforts from relevant agencies and other fishing boats operating in the area to look for the missing boat.
The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Response and Search and Rescue on July 20 sent a helicopter to assist in the search for the missing fishermen at the request of Binh Thuan authorities.
