Five fishermen from sunken vessel rescued after 12 days at sea

The five, Bui Van Toan, 50, Nguyen Van My, 58, Bui Van Vinh, 42, Le Van Dung, 36 and Nguyen Thanh La, 40, were rescued by a cargo ship traveling from Egypt to China, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Vung Tau in the southern coast said.

The cargo ship was around 440 kilometers from Nha Trang when they found the fishermen. “The health of all five fishermen was stable,” said the center.

Just a few days prior, four fishermen from the same crew were rescued by a local vessel after spending nine days adrift at sea on a coracle.

The crew members were on board a fishing vessel that departed Phan Thiet Port of central Vietnam’s Binh Thuan Province on June 21. The vessel later sunk and went missing on July 10, with the 15-strong crew dividing themselves into two coracles to escape the stricken vessel.

The five fishermen rescued Friday were found around 75 kilometers to the north of the location where four fellow crew members were saved Tuesday.

Nguyen Thanh La said there were eight people on his coracle, but that three had died of exhaustion. The survivors had no choice but to place their bodies in the sea.

Binh Thuan authorities are now verifying information and devising plans to bring the rescued fishermen back to shore.