Officers of the fisheries surveillance ship KN490 prepare to go out to the sea to look for the missing fishermen from Bình Định Province on two ships that had reportedly sunk en route back to the mainland to avoid the incoming typhoon Molave on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

KHÁNH HOÀ — Three Vietnamese fishermen have been pulled from the ocean after they were spotted by a passing cargo ship.

The men were onboard a fishing vessel that went missing during the recent storms. The remaining 11 crew members are still unaccounted for. 

The fishermen, Lê Minh Don (born in 2000), Huỳnh Xuân Phi (born in 1985) and Võ Văn Hoài (born in 1985), from Hoài Nhơn Town of Bình Định Province, are all said to be in good health. 

They were transferred from the Hong Kong cargo ship Fortune Iris to Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ship where they remain to help search for the rest of the missing crew of their vessel and another boat that also sank.

Fishing boat BĐ97469 TS with 14 fishermen on board, and BĐ96388 TS with 12 fishermen on board, got into difficulties while about 135-170 nautical miles northeast of Nha Trang City.

Don said that four of his ship’s crewmembers had gone missing, five died at sea due to exhaustion while another two died as the boat sank.

The fate of the 12 crewmen on the BĐ96388 TS ship remains unclear.

Owner of a fishing ship from Bình Định operating nearby said they had managed to get to the location of the sinking ship on Wednesday but did not find fishermen, and it had to send distress signal out at sea since the ship itself suffered an engine breakdown due to the rough waves caused by the typhoon.

The ship had to be towed back by a fisheries surveillance vessel, and it is expected to reach mainland Saturday.

The military’s search and rescue efforts are underway for the missing fishermen. — VNS