At 11pm on Tuesday, Captain Pham Phu Thanh’s fishing boat QNa 95959 with 34 crew members on board was rammed by an unidentified boat whilst fishing for squid in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) waters about 350 nautical miles northeast of Da Nang. 

Within minutes the crew had to abandon their boat as it began to sink.  Fortunately, the victims were quickly rescued by fishing vessel QNa 94998 which was operating nearby, but they were weak after their time in the water.

After receiving an SOS message from QNa 94998, the city’s Zone II Maritime Search and Rescue Centre (Da Nang MRCC) sent out rescue ship SAR 412 to the scene on Wednesday morning. 

At around 3pm today (5 May), the 34 victims arrived safely back in Da Nang.