Da Nang (VNA) – The Coast Guard Region 2 Command on May 10 successfully carried out an emergency rescue operation for a fishing vessel carrying 57 fishermen after it was severely damaged in a collision with an unidentified cargo ship in waters near the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.
According to the command, Ship 314, which was on standby duty southwest of Da Nam reef, received urgent deployment orders at 3:50 am to assist fishing boat QNa 91117 TS, which had reported serious hull damage and was at risk of sinking northeast of Song Tu Tay island.
After nearly 10 hours at sea, the coast guard vessel reached the distressed boat at around 1 pm, approximately 75 nautical miles from Song Tu Tay island.
Immediately after arriving at the scene, officers and crew members transferred technical equipment and specialised materials to help the fishermen prevent the vessel from sinking, while medical personnel conducted health checks on all 57 crew members.
Thanks to the timely response, the fishermen’s health and morale stabilised, and the major breaches in the hull were temporarily sealed. The fishing boat was later able to continue moving at a speed of 3-4 nautical miles per hour.
According to Luong Van Hoi, captain and owner of the fishing boat, the incident occurred at around 11 pm on May 9 while the vessel was squid fishing at sea. The impact tore two large rectangular holes near the bow, close to the waterline, causing seawater to pour continuously into the vessel despite the crew’s efforts to contain the flooding.
Following the emergency assistance from Ship 314, the captain decided to steer the damaged vessel back to shore for repairs./.
