Smoking at the stern of the ship, fisherman fell into the sea and went missing

(Baonghean.vn) - While the other crew members were stacking fish on the deck, Mr. Chau went to the stern of the ship to smoke. About 5 minutes later, the crew members discovered that the fisherman had fallen into the sea.

» Nghe An: Efforts are being made to search for a fisherman missing at sea

» Rescued 3 fishermen from sinking fishing boat

» Receiving 13 Nghe An fishermen rescued in an accident near the maritime border

On the afternoon of December 6, the house of fisherman Duong Minh Chau (64 years old) located in a small alley in Nghi Thuy ward (Cua Lo town) was shrouded in an atmosphere of mourning. Neighbors and local government officials quietly came and went to offer condolences to the family. To date, three days after the incident, the authorities and the family have yet to find the crew member.

In front of the house, an altar was hastily set up with incense smoke billowing. Mr. Chau’s family members also wore mourning scarves on their heads. “We set up this altar yesterday, when the hope of our father still being alive seemed to have disappeared after all the efforts to find him. Now we just hope the ocean will return our father’s body to us,” sobbed Mr. Duong Van Quan (33 years old), Mr. Chau’s son.

The victim's family built an altar with lime. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Quan said that his parents had four children. Now, all four have started their own families and live separately, leaving only the two of them living together in this house. Recently, his mother, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh (62 years old), had to go to Hanoi to treat a stroke. At home, Mr. Chau still goes to the beach every day.

“My father has been doing this job since he was a child. He has over 50 years of experience at sea, but in the end…”, Mr. Quan said. The story was constantly interrupted by sobs.

Since hearing the news of Mr. Chau’s accident, Ms. Thanh also asked to be discharged from the hospital to return home. The woman fainted after each phone call from the signboard and still could not find her husband. Fearing the unexpected, the family had to hire a doctor to be on duty 24/7 by his bedside.

According to Mr. Vo Van Ly - Chairman of Nghi Thuy Ward People's Committee, at around 2:00 p.m. on December 3, as usual, Mr. Chau and 8 other crew members boarded the boat with registration number NA 90157-TS owned by Mr. Truong Van Duc (54 years old, resident of Nghi Thuy Ward) to go to sea. The boat is a trawler, usually only fishing about 20 nautical miles from shore, so it goes back and forth during the day.

Fishing boats of Nghe An fishermen catch fish at sea. Photo: Tien Hung

At around 2am on December 4th, when he had caught a full catch of fish, he turned the boat back to shore to get it to the fish market before dawn. While the boat was running at a speed of about 6 nautical miles per hour, the entire crew stood on deck to sort and arrange the fish on trays.

“At 4am, when he was only about 10 nautical miles from Cua Lo beach, Mr. Chau took a break and told his crew to go to the back of the ship to have a cigarette and go to the toilet. About 5 minutes later, when he did not return, the crew went to look for him and discovered that he had fallen into the sea,” said ship owner Duc. At that time, the weather at sea was very cold, with drizzle.

Mr. Duc immediately turned the boat back and contacted 10 fishing boats nearby to help with the search. After several hours of searching, they only found the victim’s jacket drifting at sea. “We believe that after falling into the sea, the victim was still conscious enough to take off his jacket to make it easier to swim,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Military Commander of Nghi Thuy Ward.

On the afternoon of December 4, due to bad weather, with winds gusting above level 6, the search was forced to stop. On the morning of December 6, ships continued to search for victims.

Previously, on the afternoon of December 3, fishing boat NA-0906-TS, captained by Nguyen Van Linh, residing in Phuc Tho commune, Nghi Loc district, was sunk by waves on its way back to the mainland. The area where the boat met with the accident was about 2 nautical miles from shore. At that time, there were two crew members on board, Pham Van Khoa and Pham Van Linh (both residing in Phuc Tho commune).

Upon receiving the rescue news, Nghe An Provincial Border Guard Squadron 2 notified and coordinated with Navy Squadron 137 to send two ships to search.

Despite the dark night and bad weather, the soldiers quickly reached the area where the three fishermen were in distress and quickly brought them onto the boat. The three fishermen were then warmed, given initial health care, and handed over to their families.

Tien Hung