Prime Minister directs urgent search for 15 fishermen missing at sea

On October 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Official Dispatch 970/CD-TTg on organizing search and rescue for fishermen on two fishing boats that sank in the Song Tu Tay island area.

The dispatch stated that, according to information from the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center, at about 1:00 a.m. on October 17, 2023, the QNa 90927 TS ship was sunk by waves in an area about 135 nautical miles northwest of Song Tu Tay Island. 37 fishermen were rescued by the QNa 91782 TS ship, and one fisherman is currently missing.

At about 7:30 p.m. on October 16, 2023, the QNa 90129 TS ship sank due to a tornado in an area about 120 nautical miles northeast of Song Tu Tay Island. 40 fishermen were safely rescued by ships at the scene, and 14 fishermen are currently missing.

Accordingly, the Prime Minister requested the Ministry of National Defense to direct units and functional forces to continue to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to mobilize maximum forces and means, and promptly deploy the fastest measures to search, rescue and salvage missing fishermen.

The Ministry of Transport is assigned to preside over and coordinate with the National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, relevant ministries, branches, and People's Committees of relevant provinces and cities to urgently deploy timely and effective search and rescue measures to rescue the missing fishermen.

Focus - Prime Minister directs urgent search for 15 fishermen missing at sea — Urgent search and rescue of fishermen on two sunken fishing boats.

The Prime Minister also directed the People's Committees of provinces and cities in the Central region (Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan) to coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to review maritime transport vehicles anchored and operating in the above-mentioned sea areas, and promptly mobilize them to participate in searching and rescuing fishermen.

The National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response and Search and Rescue, according to its assigned functions and tasks, shall coordinate with the Ministry of Transport, relevant provinces and competent authorities to strengthen the direction of search and rescue work to achieve effectiveness; direct forces participating in search and rescue to ensure absolute safety for people and vehicles.

The Prime Minister's dispatch also stated that the current weather situation in the central provinces is very complicated. Therefore, ministries, branches, provinces/cities in the central region need to proactively have forces and means ready to respond to emergency situations, rescue and relief that may occur with the motto "4 on-site" .

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