Drama in rough seas as crew from sunken ship rescued in central Vietnam

A final rescue effort mounted by military forces saved eight people after they had been stuck in rough seas around 400 meters off the coast of Trieu An Commune, Trieu Phong District, Quang Tri Province.
Around 3 a.m. Thursday, cargo vessel Vietship 01 of a Hanoi-based logistics firm was swept away as it was docking at the Cua Viet Port. This happened as the entire central region, including Quang Tri, was reeling under serious flooding caused by days of torrential rains.
The ship had 12 male crew members on board when it was swept away. The heavy rains, strong winds and rough seas made it difficult for rescue efforts and the vessel sank to the bottom in shallow waters, leaving the crew stranded at sea. Four crew members who had fallen off made it safely to the shore on Friday and Saturday.
The final act of the rescue operations took place Sunday after provincial authorities enlisted military help including helicopters. Since the ship sank in shallow waters about 400 meters off the shore, hundreds watched the drama unfold over the last four days.

A relative bursts into tears and is consoled after watching a fisherman jump off the ship into the rough waters, holding a circular buoy. The fisherman was part of a team that had tried to rescue the crew of Vietship 01. After the accident, local fishermen were requested for help, but two fishing boats sank before it could reach the cargo ship, leaving the rescue team with no choice but to swim back to the shore. One of them, who had managed to get to the ship, was the one who jumped off.
Colonel Le Van Phuong, head of the Quang Tri Border Guards, said the weather conditions were harsh and with the high waves and strong winds, "it was difficult for modern vessels to get close to the stranded ship so we had to rely on rudimentary boats and experienced fishermen for the mission."

A crew member of the ship had also jumped into the sea. The duo had been holding on to the bow of the cargo vessel and suffered directly the brunt of the wind and waves.
The Vietnam Coast Guard personnel got on to a boat a boat to save the two, but they encountered a technical problem and failed to sail it.

About 30 minutes after the failure to launch the boat, Tu, the Vietship 01 crew member, got close to the shore.

But he fainted just before the coast guards reached him. Tu had spent more than three days stranded at sea, lacking access to food and water, when he was rescued.

Meanwhile, three members of the Vietnamese navy’s special force rushed out to drag the fisherman to the shore. The group were swept away repeatedly to as far as 800 meters away from shore, but they managed to get back to safety after a tense hour and a half.

The fisherman was rushed from the shore to be given emergency aid as hundreds of locals watched from a distance.

Six men still on the ship were rescued by a military helicopter. The helicopter and its crew had to brave strong winds and rough seas as they lifted the men up from the ship in a daring operation. As the rescue mission took place, storm Linfa was heading straight to the central region. It made landfall late Sunday morning in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.

The helicopter turns around to take the men it rescued to the shore for emergency first aid.

A lifeguard gets a crew member into the helicopter. Four flights were conducted during this mission.

By 9:15 a.m. Sunday, all stranded men had been brought to safety. But the owner of Vietship 01 then reported one missing crew member.
Sadly, it was confirmed later that a body washed ashore in Quang Tri Province’s Hai An Commune, Hai Lang District was that of the 45-year-old missing crew member, a native of the southern province of Long An. It was not clear if he had jumped into the water or fallen as the ship was being swept away.