After receiving an SOS message from the Quang Ngai Province fishing boat QNg 94936 around 8.00am on 11 March, the Zone II Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (Da Nang MRCC) immediately sent out rescue ship SAR 412 with some doctors onboard to help a sick crew member.

According to the boat’s owner, 42-year-old fisherman Vo Thanh was suffering from convulsions and had started foaming at the mouth whilst the vessel was fishing at latitude 15°01’N and longitude 114°30’E, about 150 nautical miles off Bom Bay Island and 270 nautical miles south-east of the Da Nang coast.

At 2.50am on 12 March, the SAR 412 reached the boat to help the sick fishermen, and he was safely brought back to the mainland for further treatment later that evening.