In the afternoon on 19 October, fishing boat KH 96977 TS from Khanh Hoa Province, with a crew of 11 onboard, suffered engine failure whilst fishing near the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago at latitude 16°19’N and longitude 112°24’E.

Two days later, the owner and captain of the boat, Mr Phan Thanh Kim, made an appeal for emergency help because the food and drinking water on board were about to run out.

After receiving an SOS message, the Zone II Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (Da Nang MRCC) immediately sent out rescue ship SAR 412 to help the victims.

Fishing boat KH 96977 TS (right) being towed by the rescue ship

At 11.00am on 22 October, when the Vietnamese rescue ship was about 0.5 nautical miles from the scene, 2 Chinese coast guard ships appeared and prevented it from reaching the fishing boat in distress.

The Viet Nam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, along with the Vietnamese Fisheries Resource Surveillance Department and the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together contacted the Chinese authorities to resolve the incident.

After 3 hours of negotiations between the Vietnamese and Chinese sides, the Chinese ships stopped their prevention tactics and the rescuers started transferring the Vietnamese fishermen to the rescue ship ready to bring them safely to shore.

Finally, the fishing boat was successfully towed back to Da Nang by 5.50pm on 23 October.