‘Try to hold two dead shipmates’ with both hands

Captain Tran Van Cong recounted the incident

At noon on June 6, the victims of the fishing boat that was rammed and sunk at sea were brought to Cua Dai Border Guard Station (Hoi An City, Quang Nam). Of the eight fishermen, three died.

Captain Tran Van Cong (47 years old, residing in Tinh Ky commune, Quang Ngai city, Quang Ngai province) sat in a daze next to 3 bodies of his ship’s crew members after a terrifying voyage.

Ship QNg 91426 TS is a shovel maker, owned by him and the captain. Two days ago, the ship disembarked at Sa Ky Border Guard Station, Quang Ngai. Around 3:30 on June 6, the boat drifted freely in an area about 7 nautical miles east of the coast of Binh Duong commune (Thang Binh district).

“At this time, the crew members were sleeping, I was sitting in the cabin to monitor the direction of the ship’s movement when suddenly a cargo ship crashed into my fishing boat, causing the ship to sink in an instant,” said Captain Cong.

The cargo ship left the scene. Mr. Cong and 4 other crew members struggled for a while, then swam out of the sinking ship, holding a plastic can, so they were lucky to escape.

“When I got out of the sinking ship, I waved my hand and saw the bodies of two crew members and I just tried to keep them from drifting away. Of the three dead, one was a brother-in-law, the other was an uncle’s son. and the other one is my close friend,” said Mr. Cong painfully.

Three unfortunate boatmates including Mr. Vo Dinh Nam (SN 1963), Nguyen Van Thanh (SN 1968) and Tran Mirror (SN 1961) died.

Fisherman Dinh Thanh Trinh was still shocked after being rescued and brought ashore

Fisherman Dinh Thanh Trinh (58 years old) said that when the fishing boat was hit in the middle of the night, he was dozing off and could only hear a very loud crash and then the boat sank in a split second.

“I and 4 other people clung to plastic cans to float on the sea. At about 6 a.m., they were discovered by the fishermen of a friend’s boat, later the border guards showed up and brought them ashore,” said Trinh, shocked. again.