A fishing boat with 52 crew members from central Quang Nam Province was rescued yesterday morning 10 miles off of Đá Bắc Island, part of Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago, after the ship went adrift on April 30.

The ship, QNa 90128TS, from Nui Thanh District, suffered a breakdown that the mechanic was unable to repair. The captain, realising the boat was drifting towards reefs near the island, sent an SOS message to the Da Nang–based Maritime Co-ordination and Rescue Centre No 2 on May 1.

A rescue ship from the centre was sent to the site and found the boat on the morning of May 2 before providing first aid to crew members.

The fishing boat was towed to the centre’s port around 8am on May 3. All crew members were healthy.

This was the fourth fishing boat that the centre had to rescue during the public holiday from April 27 to May 1.

In March, the rescue centre also saved a Filipino crew member of the Greece-flagged Maran Taurus in the water south of Tri Ton Island. — VNS