How did Vietnamese fishermen save 22 Filipino fishermen whose boat sank in Truong Sa?

On June 17, the Department of Fisheries (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province) confirmed that the fishing boat with registration number TG-90983 TS owned by Mr. Ngo Van Theng (residing in Tan Trung commune, Go Cong town, Tien Giang) is a Vietnamese fishing boat.rescue22 Filipino fishermen rescued in time.

Currently, fishing boat TG-90983 TS is still fishing offshore. There are a total of 10 crew members on board. Mr. Theng was not on board and only learned about his fishing boat rescuing 22 Filipinos when he was contacted by the authorities.

“My son was on the phone to contact the ship. The 10 crew members offshore reported that at around 3am on June 10, a small boat of two Filipino fishermen approached my fishing boat and signaled that they were in distress. The captain of my ship immediately weighed anchor and approached the Philippine ship and rescued 20 more people,” said Mr. Theng.

According to Mr. Theng, after rescuing 22 Philippine crew members, the fishermen on the TG-90983 TS gave them food and drink and helped them contact the Philippines.

After bringing 22 Filipino fishermen safely ashore and handing them over to the Philippine Navy on June 14, the Tien Giang fishermen's boat continued its fishing journey.

Previously, on the evening of June 9, the Philippine fishing boat FB Gimver 1 collided with a Chinese ship near the Reed Bank of Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago in the East Sea.

Filipino fishermen said the Chinese vessel fled after sinking their boat. The Filipinos had to wait for hours before they saw a friendly Vietnamese vessel and were rescued.

On June 12, the Philippine Department of National Defense condemned the actions of the Chinese fishing vessel. A day later, Manila threatened to cut ties with Beijing if the ramming was determined to be intentional. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin has lodged a protest with China over the incident.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Penetrante, a military spokesman in the area, said the military had reason to believe this was not an accident.

However, at a press conference on the afternoon of June 13, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the incident was just a normal maritime accident, and accused the Philippines of being "irresponsible" for "politicizing the incident without verifying it."