32 fishermen rescued after being found adrift at sea in Vietnam

A fishing boat rescued 32 exhausted fishermen who were found drifting at sea off Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago, in an incident that has attracted millions of views and thousands of comments online.

The images were recorded on August 28, when the fishing vessel BD 98960 TS, captained by 40-year-old fisherman Nguyen Van Huu from Hoai Nhon District, discovered several fishermen adrift. According to verification by the Tam Quan Nam Border Guard Station, between 9:50 and 10:35 a.m., the vessel rescued 28 exhausted fishermen approximately 51 nautical miles east of Ba Ke Island.

Captain Nguyen Van Huu immediately contacted the Coast Guard, reported the location and requested assistance in locating any other fishermen who could still be drifting at sea.

By 1:25 p.m. that day, a total of 32 fishermen had been rescued. The BD 98960 TS rescued 30 and transferred them to a Coast Guard Region 3 vessel, while the BD 98848 TS, captained by Nguyen Van Ngoc, rescued two others.

Authorities confirmed that the 32 fishermen were crew members of the fishing vessel QNa 90859 TS, which had 51 people on board. The vessel lost contact at 12:54 p.m. on August 22. The whereabouts of the remaining 19 crew members are still unknown.