At 5.30am on Saturday, the cargo ship Hoa Mai-25 with 9 crew members on board broke its anchor while it was anchoring at latitude 17°08'N and longitude 107°20'E, about 90 nautical miles off the Da Nang coast.  The ship began drifting at a speed of between 2 and 3 nautical miles per hour and it faced a high risk of sinking due to the strong winds and rough seas at that time.

At 10.00am the same day, after receiving an SOS message from the Hoa Mai, the Da Nang Coastal Information Station (DCIS) sent Coast Guard ship 2015 to the scene.  By 2.00pm, the rescue ship had reached the cargo ship.  However, due to the harsh weather conditions, the rescue was not easy and another Coast Guard ship, CSB 6006, arrived at 5.30am the next day to help rescue the Hoa Mai-25.

At 1.00pm on Sunday, the Hoa Mai was successfully towed back to the mainland by both the rescue ships, and all the crewmembers are now safe and in good health.

The 2,200 tonne ship, which belongs to Thai Binh Province’s Thanh Xuan Company, was carrying 1,500 tonnes of cement from Hai Phong to Da Nang.