Fishing boat BTh 97478 TS with 17 crew members on board 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.
The area where the fishermen went missing
Four people were rescued at around 1:10 pm today, 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 at that time, the fishermen were sitting on a bamboo boat. They were 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 they were a group of seven members on the bamboo boat but three of them had died and they had to leave their bodies at the sea.
Local authorities are co-operating with concerned agencies to get access to boat BD 96935 TS to take the rescued fishermen ashore.
Boat BTh 97478 TS owned by Bui Van Toan, 51, left Phan Thiet Por for fishing on June 21.
