Divers have stopped searching for the missing crew members of the VTB 26 vessel.
(Baonghean.vn) - With the remaining parts of the ship buried under mud and coal, making them inaccessible, rescue forces decided to stop the search by divers and wait for the ship to be salvaged.
On the morning of July 21st, Mr. Vuong Binh Minh, Director of the Nghe An Maritime Port Authority, stated that approximately 20 ships and boats of various types had set sail from early morning to the area where the VTB 26 ship sank to search for the two remaining crew members: Nguyen Van Chieu - deck officer, and Nguyen Hai Quyet - OS sailor, both from Hai Phong. This marks the fifth day of the search by rescue forces.
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| Rescue boats search the waters off Cua Lo. Photo: TH |
Meanwhile, 10 professional divers from Hai Phong have been given time off. “Some of the remaining holds and compartments are too deeply filled with mud and coal. The divers can no longer access them. If we want to search the entire ship, we will have to salvage it,” Mr. Minh said, adding that many more resources will be needed to salvage the vessel.
Following suspicions that people were trapped on the cliffs, on the afternoon of July 20, rescue forces used drones to film for nearly two hours in the area of Lan Chau Island and Ngu Island, but without success.
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| A drone scan of the cliffs on Lan Chau Island and Ngu Island yielded no results. (Photo: TH) |
Earlier, at approximately 2:00 AM on July 17th, the VTB 26 vessel, with a tonnage of 5,100 tons and carrying 4,700 tons of coal, sent out a distress signal while anchored to avoid a storm near Hon Ngu Island (Nghe An province). The ship subsequently capsized, and many crew members fell into the sea. On the first day of rescue efforts, 7 crew members were rescued alive along with 2 bodies. The remaining 4 are missing. The ship sank about 3 nautical miles from the shore, approximately 800 meters north of Hon Ngu Island. The area has a depth of about 10 meters.
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| The rest of the ship was buried under mud and coal, making it impossible for the diving team to continue. Photo: PV |
Approximately 600 people from various forces participated in the rescue operation over the past five days. After the ship sank, although rescue forces believed some people were still trapped inside, they were unable to deploy divers due to high waves and murky water, which obscured visibility. On the third day of the search, when a team of divers joined the effort, a body trapped in a second-floor cabin was found. Continuing the search, a day later, the rescue team discovered another body buried in mud in a second-floor compartment.
More than 4,000 tons of coal on board the ship have now also been swept into the sea.
Tien Hung
