Survival amid raging waves
Sitting in the guest house of Brigade 170, Naval Region 1, Trinh Van Cuoc, born in 1973 in Nghia An commune, Ninh Giang district, Hai Duong province, truly believed that he was still alive. For the first time in his life, Cuoc had seen death in the face at sea.
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The happiness of a fisherman when brought ashore safely by troops of Brigade 170 |
Cuoc works for Viet Thuan Transport Company Limited, on a barge pusher. Before the third storm (Typhoon Yagi) arrived, he and his colleagues on the ship moved the barge from Hoanh Bo (Ha Long city, Quang Ninh) to avoid the storm. At 12:30 on September 7, when the storm made landfall, strong gusts of wind combined with high waves sank the pusher’s stem, the cable connecting the barge to the stem broke, causing the barge to freely drift at sea. Luckily, all 11 people on board promptly leave the stem and get onto the barge.
In another case, according to information provided by the victim's family, a vessel numbered HY-0496 sank while taking shelter from the storm in Quang Ninh and was out of touch. Fortunately, among the 17 people rescued by Brigade 170 on the early morning of September 8, there were 4 people who lost contact from vessel HY-0496.
Tran Van Cua, born in 1962 in An Vien commune, Tien Lu district, Hung Yen province, shared that his vessel HY-0496 was on its way to transport cement from Ninh Binh to Quang Ninh. Learning about the news that the third storm was about to arrive and Quang Ninh had imposed a sea ban starting at 11 a.m. on September 6, he navigated the vessel into Tung Sau area to avoid the storm when it arrived in Quang Ninh at 3:00 p.m. the same day. There were 4 people on the vessel: Cua himself, his two sons and an employee.
He shared that in the first three hours, in spite of high waves, the vessel was still steady. Then, the sea water started to flood in, they were helpless. There was nothing they could do to prevent it. At that time, his son called his wife at home and notify local authorities for help. More than two hours later, the vessel sank completely. They put on life jackets, tied ropes to each other and jumped into the sea.
Tran Van Son (Tran Van Cua's son, born in 1982) touchingly reported that they were washed over Ti Top Island. Then they pulled each other up to a higher place to avoid the waves, leaning against the cliff to avoid being blown away by the wind.
In the most desperate moments, Brigade 170’s ship appeared in the distance. It was the early morning of September 8. All of them used all their strength to wave their life jackets and shout loudly amid crashing waves.
After approaching the four people, naval troops checked their health, dressed their wounds, and then invited them to dinner, Son said.
Order from the heart of soldiers
Upon receiving the news that distressed people on vessel HY-0496 were saved, troops of Brigade 170 contacted their families. Right after that, at dawn, two women immediately took a bus from Hung Yen to Quang Ninh to pick up their relatives. They were Do Thi Cuc (born in 1966, Tran Van Cua’s wife) and Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh (born in 1983, Tran Van Son’s wife). As soon as she entered the guest house and saw her husband and son, Cuc burst into tears.
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All 17 distressed fishermen brought ashore safely |
Captain Nguyen Trung Kien, Deputy Political Commissar of Brigade 170 shared that the unit’s troops defined flood prevention and control in the mainland and search and rescue at sea as important tasks and an order from their hearts. After receiving the information about people in distress at sea, they rushed to the scene regardless of high waves and strong winds.
Also on September 8, Brigade 170 saved two pearl farmers in Tung Sau area. Ship 8004 and two boats 721 and 722 of Coast Guard Region 1 successfully rescued 43 crew-members on eight troubled vessels and barges in the waters of Quang Ninh province due to the impact of the third storm. At present, all 43 crew-members are safe and in stable health conditions. Then Ship 8004 and boats 721 and 722 continued their search and rescue missions at sea.
Sharing the joy of all troubled people saved by troops of Brigade 170 and Coast Guard Region 1, we hope that naval and coast guard troops would continue their search and rescue efforts as there might be still people in distress at sea due to the severe storm.
Translated by Quynh Oanh