The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) has asked Vinalines Shipping to hire ships from the Philippines to search for the missing Vinalines Queen.
This was released by MRCC General Director Nguyen Anh Vu at a on December 1 working session with families of the missing Vinalines Queen crewmembers.

The MRCC will cooperate closely with other ships to search for the missing vessel, Vu said.

Meanwhile, Thanh Nien newspaper reported that the family of Ngo Van Lam, a sailor on the sunken Vinalines Queen, said they received phone calls from him on mobile number 006282190493783 before the incident happened.

Since the vessel was reported missing, they have tried to reach the number several times and sometimes it is available, the newspaper said.  

The newspaper quoted Tao Duc Thang, Director of Viettel mobile, as saying that the number belongs to the Indonesian operator Telkmomsel.

Crewman survives 6 days at sea; 22 feared dead

Dau Ngoc Hung, a crew member of the missing Vinalines Queen cargo ship, has been found alive after drifting on the 5,000m-deep Philippine seas for six days. He says the boat has sunk and he is the sole survivor.

The 31-year-old from Nghe An central province is one of the 23 crewmen aboard the ship that was carrying 54,400 tons of Nikel ore from Indonesia’s Morowali port to Ningde port in China.

According to Vinalines Shipping, the owner of the Vinalines Queen, the vessel went missing at 7am on December 25th upon reaching the area northeast of Luzon Island, in the Philippines.

The remaining 22 sailors are feared dead after unsuccessful search attempts by air forces from Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

On December 30, the Vietnam’s Marine Rescue Cooperation Center (MRRC) received information from a Taiwanese rescue agency that at 10:30am the same day, a British-flagged ship named London Courage found a man adrift on a life raft on the way to Singapore.

A few minutes later, a rescue center from Hong Kong confirmed the information.

MRRC’s director Nguyen Anh Vu immediately phoned the London Courage via satellite to communicate with Hung. Afterwards, MRRC helped Hung connect with his family, who have been waiting for him by the minute.

Wife of the survivor 33-year-old Lai Thi Thoa recalled she was extremely happy to realize her husband’s voice at the other end of the line.

He told her: “When I went adrift at sea 5,000m deep, a vessel with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes rescued me. I’m so far in good health. Please tell my parents not to worry.”

Before that on December 27, Thoa had fainted after being informed the ship has gone missing.

Rescue efforts continue

Bui Van Cat, deputy director of Vinalines Shipping, said the London Courage ship rescued Hung at 20.17 north latitude, 120.22 east altitude, around 350 kilometers west from the area where the ship sent out the last distress signal.

He added the company is asking MRRC and Vietnam National Committee for Search and Rescue to ask for assistance from Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan in searching for the other 22 crewmen around the above location.

The company also plans to bring Hung ashore by helicopter if needed, he said.

Cat added the company is going to send a special force to Singapore to join in search and rescue operations and to bring Hung home.

According to a source, the London Courage ship is expected to arrive at a port in Singapore on January 4, 2012.

In the mean time, MRRC has pledged to continue to ask for assistance from countries in the region in locating the sunk ship and its missing crew members.

For its part, Singaporean authorities have announced they would cooperate with Vietnam and are willing to receive the survivor Hung.

Tuoitre/VOV