On October 4, the Gia Lai Provincial Border Guard Command said that there is currently no information about fishing boat BD 97258 TS and 8 fishermen who have been missing since September 27 while fishing at sea. Currently, the authorities are still searching.
However, recently after returning to shore, fishing boat BD 96433 TS owned and captained by Mr. Huynh Van Chim (residing in Hoai Nhon Dong ward, Gia Lai) informed about the loss of contact with fishing boat BD 97258 TS.
According to Mr. Chim, the boat departed on the same day as the boat BD 97258 TS, captained by Mr. Huynh Van Son (born in 1981, residing in the same locality). When receiving the warning of storm No. 10 (Bualoi), both ships operating in the Truong Sa sea area discussed and agreed to move down to the downstream to avoid the storm.
At about 5:00 p.m. on September 27, the ship of Mr. Chim anchored at 12°55'N-111°42'E, about 7 nautical miles from the ship of Mr. Son. On the format machine, Mr. Chim still sees the signal, and can even see Mr. Son's train lights.
However, by 11pm the same day, train signal BD 97258 TS disappeared. Thinking that the friend ship had turned off the engine to rest, Mr. Chim did not contact. At 5:00 a.m. on September 28, Mr. Chim contacted the phone many times but did not receive any response from Mr. Son's boat.
Mr. Chim said that the storm in this area is only level 6, about 2m high, not too unusual. On the format machine, there were 3-4 cargo ships operating nearby but of unknown nationality. On October 1, the Mr. Chim ship began its journey to shore.
From the above reality, Mr. Chim commented that fishing boat BD 97258 TS may have water damage or collided with a foreign cargo ship, leading to sinking.
As Lao Dong previously reported, ship BD 97258 TS departed on September 12 from Ca Na Border Control Station (Khanh Hoa), fishing for ocean tuna, operating in the sea about 147 nautical miles southeast of Quy Nhon. At 20:13 on September 27, the ship lost signal, and the family could not contact her, so they reported it to the authorities.
