At 4.57pm last Saturday, the Zone II Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (Da Nang MRCC) received an SOS message from the ship Sam Young - an oil tanker registered in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

The rescuers at the scene preparing to bring the sick crewman back to Da Nang (Photo: Internet)

The ship was en route from South Korea to Singapore, and a 39-year-old Singaporean crewman, Sze-Kai, who had been suffering from a severe skin infection for 6 days, was onboard.

Da Nang MRCC immediately sent out its ship SAR 274, carrying some doctors from the city's Emergency Centre 115, to help the sick crewman.

Yesterday morning, he was brought safely back to Da Nang for further treatment in a local hospital.