VietNamNet Bridge – Dau Ngoc Hung, the only survivor of the sunken Vinalines Queen, arrived at the Marine South Pier Port of Singapore this noon, January 4, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Hai Hau.

Hung told a reporter on the phone that his health is now stable. He would like to convey his deep thank-you to Ambassador Hau and the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore, the Vinalines Shipping Company and the media for caring about him and his family in the last few days.

The only survivor of Vinalines Queen also expressed the wish that the search and rescue forces to continue searching the remaining sailors and these sailors are lucky like him.

Hung was welcomed at the port by Ambassador Hau and representatives of Vinalines Shipping Company. The sailor was rescued by the London Courage, a British vessel, on December 30.
The sailor arrived at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport at 6.15pm, January 4, on a flight of Vietnam Airlines.

After finishing the 20-minute customs checking at the airport, Hung followed Vinalines’ employees to Vinalines headquarter for a press briefing on 8:30 pm.

Vinalines Queen sank on December 25 en route to China from Indonesia, carrying more than 54,000 tons of nickel ores.

The Vietnam Shipping Lines Group (Vinalines) and foreign partners still keep searching the remaining 22 sailors.

Missing crew entitled to big insurance benefits

Each of the families of 22 missing crewmen aboard the Vinalines Queen ship believed to have sunk in the Philippine seas can claim up to US$40,000 in insurance, a representative of Vinalines Shipping Company has said.

Le An Son, deputy general director of Vinalines Shipping, which owns the ship, told VnExpress Newswire that the vessel’s shipping insurance could reach up to US$20 million, much greater than the vessel’s current real value.

He said the company had earlier bought accident insurances for all crewmen worth $25,000 each. But the families of the missing crew members could claim as much as $40,000 since his company had also purchased accident insurance from a foreign firm.

However, Son declined to talk about the insurance of goods on the ship. The ship was carrying 54,400 tons of Nickel ore from Indonesia’s Morowali Port to Ningde Port in China on December 25 when it went missing.

Some insurance experts said it might take a long time to receive compensations from the insurance firms.

“In principle, insurance firms only pay when they’ve determined the exact cause of the accident and decided how much to pay,” a former director of a Japanese-owned insurance firm, who declined to be named, said.

Son said the company was now coordinating with National Search and Rescue Center to search for the vessel and its crewmen.

According to Son, Vinalines Queen is a new and modern vessel and the sinking is an unwanted accident that has happened for the first time in his company’s history.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang told local media at a press conference on Tuesday that the Vinalines Queen accident was now the ministry’s highest priority.

“Rescue operations will go on until all of the missing victims are confirmed dead,” Thang said.

The ministry has also asked the government to ask for assistance from foreign countries to help in the rescue efforts.

Tuoi Tre/VietNamNet/VNE