On the morning of December 10, a representative of the Ha Tinh Border Guard Command confirmed that the fishing boat, registered as NA-98687-TS, sank on December 9 in the waters off Ha Tinh, putting all eight crew members at risk.

By 4:30 p.m. on the same day, seven fishermen had been rescued, while one remained missing.

“This morning, eight fishing boats and one coast guard vessel were continuing the search for the remaining fisherman,” the representative said.

Previously, the fishing boat NA-98687-TS, with a capacity of around 1,000 horsepower, had departed with eight crew members. The vessel was captained by Ho Sy Hung, 34, a resident of Tan Mai Ward in Nghe An province. It was en route from Hoang Mai waters to Ha Tinh to fish when disaster struck.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on December 9, the boat reached waters around 50 nautical miles northeast of Vung Ang Port when it was hit by powerful waves and sank.

As the vessel went down, the crew sent out a distress signal to the Border Guard and jumped into the sea.

The fishermen clung to foam containers and life jackets while drifting at sea. By 4:30 p.m. that afternoon, seven of them were discovered and rescued by another fishing vessel, NA-93986, captained by Nguyen Thai Son. The rescued crew members were safely brought aboard. One person, however, is still unaccounted for.

Thien Luong