Relatives of missing crew members react to the rescue work of the sunken ship.

(Baonghean.vn) - Relatives of sailor Quyet said that the work of salvaging the ship was carried out too slowly whileTwo crew members are still missing, believed to be trapped on board.

» Start salvaging ship VTB 26, searching for two missing crew members

On the morning of August 10, a number of relevant units met to discuss the plan to salvage the VTB 26 ship that sank in the waters of Cua Lo (Nghe An), more than 3 weeks ago. Here, relatives of the missing crew members reacted to the rescue process.

“When deploying the diving team, the rescue force and the ship owner did not mark the searched locations. When I asked for the ship's diagram and investigated, I discovered that a room was missing. I directly asked the divers and they admitted it. We have full recordings,” said Nguyen Hai Thinh, uncle of crew member Nguyen Hai Quyet (26 years old, from Hai Phong). Although he is a sailor, Quyet gets seasick. On the night of the incident, other crew members confirmed that Quyet was tired so he closed the door and lay down to rest.

Sailor Quyet's father (left) and his uncle at the meeting. Photo: Tien Hung

From this information, the sailor’s relatives believe that the room that the divers missed is where Quyet is trapped. “When the divers discovered the last body during the search, that location was only one meter away from Quyet’s room. The corridor was still walkable, and the room was not buried by coal and mud. Yet they missed it,” Mr. Thinh said, suggesting that after this incident, when meeting to review the experience of the rescue process, the relevant units should bring up this detail for evaluation.

With a tired face, Mr. Nguyen Hai Thanh (sailor Quyet's father) said that for more than 3 weeks, he and some relatives had to stay here to wait for information about his son. Quyet has a wife and a four-year-old son. "We don't know the reason, but it's taking too long to salvage now. Even if there were no people down there, it's not worth waiting this long. In the middle of a tourist area, the depth is only over 10 meters, but it's been more than 3 weeks." Mr. Thanh said and said that, due to this delay, on August 3, the family directly contacted another diving team to hire them to search the abandoned room, suspecting that his son was trapped.

However, due to some procedural problems, the diving team announced that it would take another 3 days to deploy. “At that time, the ship owner also committed to salvaging the ship in 3 days, so there would be no need for another diving team. But after waiting for a long time, until now (7th day) the salvaging has just begun. If I had known that, I would have hired divers,” Mr. Thanh shared with Nghe An Newspaper reporter.

Relatives of the missing crew members said that the divers did not search thoroughly. Photo: Tien Hung

In response to these reactions, Mr. Vuong Binh Minh - Director of Nghe An Maritime Port Authority, said: After the incident, all forces focused on searching, but so far no one has dared to confirm whether the two victims are still on board or not. "On July 28, we sent a written notice to the ship owner to urgently deploy a salvage plan within 5 days. If after this deadline the company still has not implemented it, we will look for a salvage unit ourselves," said Mr. Minh.

The Director of Nghe An Maritime Port Authority said that in the meantime, the unit has also sent invitations to 6 companies specializing in salvage, including 3 companies in Nghe An, to hear them present their salvage plans and capabilities in order to prevent the ship owner from not implementing them.

“On the fourth day, the ship owner, An Hai Company, announced that they had found a salvage partner, Minh Thu Company. They informed us that the two sides were negotiating. So we temporarily stopped appointing other salvage contractors,” said Mr. Minh, adding that during this process, the contract negotiations between Minh Thu Company and the ship owner and the Port Authority were not informed. Although the Port Authority also requested the contractor to urgently submit a salvage plan for approval.

It was not until August 7 that the Nghe An Maritime Port Authority received the salvage plan. “On August 8, we held a meeting to review the conditions and a day later, decided to organize the salvage. On the state management side, we have given timely instructions, not being irresponsible,” Mr. Minh added.

The area where the VTB 26 ship sank is only about 3 nautical miles from shore, at a depth of about 10 meters. Photo: Tien Hung

Meanwhile, in response to these reactions from the missing crew members’ relatives, the ship owner remained silent. “As far as I know, the ship owner is also having a hard time finding a salvage contractor, which takes time. In addition, they are also having trouble with insurance,” said Mr. Minh, hoping that the crew members’ relatives will sympathize and share.

Previously, at around 2am on July 17, the VTB 26 ship carrying 4,700 tons of coal sent a distress signal while anchored to avoid the storm at Hon Ngu Island (Nghe An). The ship then capsized, many crew members fell into the sea. On the first day of rescue, 7 crew members were rescued along with 2 other bodies. The remaining 4 people were missing. The ship sank about 3 nautical miles from shore, about 800m north of Hon Ngu Island. This area is about 10m deep.

On the third day of searching, when the diving team entered the scene, a body was found trapped in the second-floor cabin. A day later, the team discovered another body buried in mud in the second-floor cabin. To date, two victims are still missing: Nguyen Van Chieu (29 years old, deck officer) and Nguyen Hai Quyet (26 years old, sailor), both from Hai Phong. The VTB 26 ship is nearly 100 meters long, more than 15 meters wide, and has a tonnage of nearly 6,000 tons.

Tien Hung