Urgent search for four crew members from distress barge in Phú Quý Waters

On the evening of March 8, the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Bình Thuận Province issued an urgent official dispatch to the Office of the National Committee for Incident, Disaster Response, and Search and Rescue and the People’s Committee of Bình Thuận Province, reported that two transport barges encountered rough seas and strong winds while passing through Phú Quý waters, were in danger of sinking and drifting, and required immediate assistance.

3 crew members were fortunately saved

Earlier, at 3:00 PM on March 8, Bình Thuận Maritime Administration and the Phú Quý Port Border Guard Station, under the Bình Thuận Border Guard Command, received information that two barges, including Barge LA-05923 with four crew members and Barge LA-05922 with three crew members, belonging to Đức Phú Thịnh Co. Ltd. (address is An Thạnh Commune, Bến Lức District, Long An Province), while were proceeding in Phú Quý waters, met rough seas and strong winds.

The barges capsized and drifted in position 10°49’N - 108°49’E, approximately 26 nautical miles southeast of La Gàn Cape and about 17 nautical miles northwest of Phú Quý Island. The crew members prepared to abandon the barges and required immediate assistance. The area was experiencing a strong northeast monsoon of levels 6 to 7, with gusts of levels 8 to 9, and sea waves ranging from 3 to 5.5 meters in height.

Upon receiving the distress, the Vietnam Coast Guard vessel 6007, under the Command of Coast Guard Region 3, and the high-speed passenger boat Superdong Phú Quý I, which anchored in Phú Quý waters, were deployed to the distress position for search and rescue operations.

By around 7:00 PM, the Superdong boat found and rescued three crew members from Barge LA-05922. Due to low fuel levels, the boat left the scene and transported three crew members to Phú Quý Port, arriving at 8:30 PM the same evening. Coast Guard vessel 6007 remained at the scene to continue the search for the four missing crew members from Barge LA-05923.

The Phú Quý Port Border Guard Station received the three rescued crew members and provided them with medical care at the Phú Quý Search and Rescue Station. The crew members' health was stable.

SAR 413 was deployed by the Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center no.3 to ​​the distress barge position to search for 4 crew members

According to authorities, after being refueled, the Superdong Phú Quý I ferry will resume participating in the search efforts. At 9:00 PM, SAR 413 from the Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center no.3 (Regional Center III) was also deployed to a distress position to coordinate search and rescue efforts for the four missing crew members from Barge LA-05923.

The Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Bình Thuận Province offers the Bình Thuận Border Guard Command to continue directing and notifying local border guard stations, Marine Police Squadron 2, and all Bình Thuận province’s boats in the vicinity of distress position keep a sharp lookout and assist in searching and rescuing missing crew members. The Phan Thiết Coastal Radio Station and Bình Thuận Maritime Administration broadcast distress messages to all vessels in the vicinity of the distress position keep a sharp lookout and assist in searching and rescuing missing crew members./.