Vietnamese rescue forces and vessels from other countries are searching for 16 missing Philippine crew members aboard a Bahamas-flagged ship considered sunk off southern Viet Nam on Friday morning.

There were 19 Philippine crew members aboard the Bulk Jupiter when it departed from Malaysia, the Viet Nam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (Viet Nam MRCC) said, adding that one has been saved and two bodies have been found.

Currently, Vietnamese vessel SAR 413 is guiding Liberia’s ZIM ASIA, Oman’s tugboat OLNG Muttrah, Singapore’s tugboat Kota Nekad, and Sea Land Meteor of China’s Hong Kong in the search for the Bulk Jupiter and the missing sailors.

The Bulk Jupiter is thought to have wrecked as it has yet to be found after the Vietnamese rescue force received SOS messages from the vessel at 7:00 am on Friday, when it was about 150 nautical miles off the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau, the Viet Nam MRCC said.

The Bahamas-flagged ship Bulk Jupiter

After receiving the emergency signals, the Viet Nam MRCC issued a maritime notice asking for help from vessels nearby and sent SAR 413 to the scene to begin rescue activities, which were later joined by the above foreign ships.

At 2:10 pm on Friday afternoon, OLNG Muttrah saved one sailor and found a body drifting at sea. The rescued person is the cook and the body has been identified as the Bulk Jupiter captain.

About 30 minutes later, the Kota Nekad reported it had found a corpse confirmed to be a crew member.

The Viet Nam National Committee for Search and Rescue said it has proposed that the Defense Ministry dispatch the HQ608 – a naval ship – to the scene to support the SAR 413 in the ongoing search.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam MRCC said on Friday night that the owner of the Bulk Jupiter will send a representative from Singapore to Viet Nam to coordinate with it in the search efforts.
The Bulk Jupiter was in distress when it was transporting 46,400 tons of iron ore from Malaysia to China, the Viet Nam MRCC said.