Missing crew from sunken barge found

October 23, 2017 - 15:11

Three crew members of a barge that sank in the waters off Bạch Lọng Vĩ Island near the port city of Hải Phòng last Saturday were rescued and taken to the Cát Bà Border Guard Station safely on Monday morning.

Rescue ship SAR 411 from Hải Phòng City were deployed to search for three crew members of a barge that sank in the waters off Bạch Long Vĩ Island near the port city of Hải Phòng on Saturday. — Photo nhandan.com.vn
Viet Nam News

HẢI PHÒNG — Three crew members of a barge that sank in the waters off Bạch Lọng Vĩ Island near the port city of Hải Phòng on Saturday were rescued and taken to the Cát Bà Border Guard Station safely on Monday morning.

The crew – Nguyễn Văn Quang, 57; Nguyễn Hữu Sơn, 57; and Nguyễn Văn Cường, 27 – were reported to be on the barge carrying construction materials from Hải Phòng City to the island.

The barge reportedly sank after water seeped into the cargo of the 700-tonne barge because of bad weather. The barge was not equipped with any communication devices, except for the crew’s mobile phones. At about 8.30am on Saturday, the Việt Nam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (VMRCC) was unable to reach the crew on their phones.

On Monday morning, the VMRCC received a report from a fishing boat in the central province of Thanh Hóa saying it detected three crew members on a life buoy while fishing in Bạch Long Vỹ’s waters.

The fishing boat rescued the crew but could not make a call in at the time because there was no phone signal.

The rescued crew members are in good health. — VNS

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