Three crew members of a barge that sank in the waters off Bach Long Vi Island near the port city of Hai Phong on Saturday were rescued and taken to the Cat Ba Border Guard Station safely on Monday morning.

Rescue ship SAR 411 from Hai Phong City were deployed to search for three crew members of a barge that sank in the waters off Bach Long Vi Island near the port city of Hai Phong on Saturday. 

The crew – Nguyen Van Quang, 57; Nguyen Huu Son, 57; and Nguyen Van Cuong, 27 – were reported to be on the barge carrying construction materials from Hai Phong 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 Viet 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 Bach Long Vy’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