The search began at 10.30am and, at 02.00pm the Japanese side announced that they found nothing and brought the activity to a halt, said Nguyen Anh Vu, director of the Vietnam Marine Rescue Cooperation Centre (MRCC).
Japan resumed the search after Vietnamese Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang presented a diplomatic note to Minister Counsellor Hideo Suziki at the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi on January 6, requesting Japan to assist with investigation.
The Japanese side contacted agencies in the Philippine for permission after the Ministry of Transport sent an urgent note to the Vietnamese Embassy in Manila, asking it to work with relevant Philippine agencies to allow Japanese helicopters to conduct the search.
On January 5, the commander of the Philippine Coast Guard pledged to deploy helicopters to support Vietnam’s research and rescue efforts. According to the commander, helicopters are the only way to look for the missing crewmen as the area where the cargo ship sank is inaccessible for rescue ships.
Vinalines Queen with 23 crewmen on board sank off the Philippines’ Batanes province at around 07.00am on December 25. It was transporting 54,000 tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia to China. Only one seaman was rescued by British flagged ship, the London Courage, on December 30.
