Vietnamese coast guard personnel bring 32 fishermen rescued from fishing vessel QNa-90859-TS safely to Trường Sa Island in the Spratly archipelago. — VNA/VNS Photo

ĐÀ NẴNG — Thirty-two fishermen have been rescued after drifting at sea for several days off Việt Nam’s Spratly Islands, while 19 others remain missing, authorities said on Saturday.

The fishermen were found in very weak health by two fishing boats on Friday, the Đà Nẵng city government said.

The 32 were later transferred to KN 472, a vessel under Coast Guard Region 3, which took them to Trường Sa Lớn Island for medical care.

Other naval, coast guard and fishing vessels continued to search for the 18 missing fishermen, with authorities expanding the search area.

Đà Nẵng was coordinating with the navy, coast guard, border guards and the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in the rescue operation and preparing medical facilities to receive the fishermen.

The fishing vessel QNa-90859-TS, nearly 24m long and powered by an engine of more than 1,680 horsepower, left An Hòa Port on July 29 carrying 50 people. It was engaged in squid fishing and was captained by Huỳnh Văn Trí, 47, from Núi Thành Commune in Đà Nẵng.

The vessel’s monitoring system recorded its last signal at 12:54pm on August 25, about 35 nautical miles west of An Bang Island in the Spratly Islands and about 540 nautical miles southeast of Sơn Trà Peninsula.

At the time contact was lost, winds in the area were at force 5-6, or about 29-49 km per hour, and seas were rough.

Authorities subsequently mobilised naval, coast guard and fishing vessels operating in the area to search for the missing fishermen.

The cause of the vessel’s loss of contact was not immediately disclosed. — VNS