Story of a fisherman from Nghe An who was lucky to survive a shipwreck

SecondReunion with the family of sailor Pham Van Hoang in Quynh Tho commune (Quynh Luu). Photo: Viet Hung

On the afternoon of September 7, representatives of the Quang Tri Border Guard Command brought the crew members who were rescued at sea after their ship was sunk by waves on the morning of September 5 back to their hometown, and held a handover ceremony for the Son Hai commune authorities and their families.

FishermenPham Van Hoang recounts the life-and-death moments during 25 hours drifting at sea. Photo: Viet Hung

After 25 hours drifting at sea, facing "death" and many hours traveling home, the faces of the 4 fishermen on fishing boat NA 93010 TS were still bewildered when recalling that they had faced death at sea in the past few days.

Crew member Pham Van Hoang - one of the four fishermen rescued by the Quang Tri ship, is still in shock as he recalls: At 8am on September 5, the fishing boat started leaving Lach Gianh port (Quang Binh) to return home after many days of avoiding storm No. 4 and the tropical depression there. When the boat started its engine and sailed out to sea about 2 nautical miles (nearly 4 km) from the mainland, it encountered fierce waves, strong winds, and whirlpools that seemed to swallow the small boat in the middle of the ocean.

Faithjoy when rescued sailors reunite with their relatives. Photo: Van Truong

“The crew members had not yet put on their life jackets when the boat was sunk by the waves, all 7 fishermen were scattered to different places at sea. Luckily, when the boat sank, the life jackets and foam ice chest covers came loose from the boat, so the crew swam to grab onto them. During the disaster, out of 7 crew members on board, only 5 remained, 2 are still missing,” said fisherman Pham Van Hoang.

When the remaining 5 crew members, including Nguyen Van Thang, Le Van Chien, Pham Van Hoang, Tran Van Cuong and Ngo Van Xo, were holding on to the buoy and foam board to hold on, crew member Thang saw the buoy from afar and swam out to hold it. Thang was then pushed away by the waves and was fortunately rescued by a passing cargo ship.

Among the 4 remaining crew members, Ngo Van Xo (born 2001) was the youngest, so when he and 3 other fishermen were hugging the foam board to fight the waves, Xo was both tired and hungry, so he fainted several times; many times he wanted to give up. Recalling the life-and-death moment at sea, Xo said: When falling into the sea, I and the other crew members had not had time to eat anything, so after struggling with the waves for many hours, everyone was tired and exhausted. At this time, both of my teeth were stiff from the cold, hunger and thirst, but luckily, Mr. Hoang, an older man, helped me onto the wooden board to recover, and then I woke up.

Villagers came to share their joy when the sailors returned alive. Photo: Van Truong

“Holding out at sea for many hours, hunger and cold made the four fishermen’s limbs weak. Fearing that their teeth would hit their tongues, the four brothers gathered water hyacinth drifting out at sea to chew to quench their thirst. Among the water hyacinth drifting out to sea was a carton of 4 expired fresh milk boxes. Because they were so hungry, they shared the drink to survive,” fisherman Ngo Van Xo recounted the life-and-death moments at sea.

From the time the ship sank at 9am on September 5th, until 3am the next day September 6th, crew member Pham Van Hoang discovered some logs that had been swept out to sea by floodwaters. He let go of the buoy and swam out to hold on to them to make a raft. At this time, the crew members took off their clothes and elastic bands to tie each log together and then placed foam on top. The crew members continued to hold on, hoping that a rescue ship would come to their rescue.

“Despite our panic, we always encouraged each other and tried to hold on to the buoy. Some people fainted but we still tried to keep them from sinking. In the moment of life and death, we were very united,” said crew member Pham Van Hoang.

At about 9am on July 6, after 25 hours of struggling between life and death at sea, 4 crew members discovered a moving rescue ship in the distance. Because the rescue ship did not detect them, the crew members let Cuong stand on the raft, waved his shirt and shouted loudly to signal. About 5 minutes later, rescue ship CN09 of Con Co Border Guard Station (Quang Tri Province Border Guard) arrived to rescue the 4 fishermen onto the ship and brought them to shore. The location of the rescue was about 70km from the shipwreck.

Crew member Tran Van Cuong said: “When we saw the Quang Tri Border Guard ship coming to rescue, although we were almost exhausted, everyone still tried to signal for help. When we saw the rescue ship arrive, everyone was happy and then burst into tears, everyone was rescued and returned to their families.”

The joy was not complete when out there, the two missing crew members Tran Quang Thien (53 years old) and Dau Ngoc Cam (67 years old) were still not found. At home, the relatives of the crew members cried all day long. To calm their spirits, the local authorities of Son Hai commune visited and encouraged the families. At the same time, they continued to coordinate with the authorities of Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces to search for the two remaining missing fishermen.

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