MANILA – Voices of the 22 Filipino fishermen from the fishing boat that was rammed by a Chinese vessel awakened the Vietnamese fishermen who helped them, the owner of the Vietnamese boat recalled.
In an article published at VnExpress on Tuesday, TGTG-90983-TS fishing boat owner Ngo Van Theng said they were anchored near the Reed Bank at around 1 a.m. on June 9 when the crew were awakened by the “voices of foreigners.”
Nguyen Thanh Tam, the captain of the Vietnamese boat, saw two small unlit boats aboard two Filipino fishermen who were using hand signals to communicate approaching his boat.
“Tam initially thought they were pirates, but he guessed that they probably had an accident when he saw them soaking wet and shivering,” Theng said. “The Filipinos continued to gesture in the direction of the Recto Bank so Tam decided to help.”
After an hour and traveling five nautical miles, they found the other 20 Filipinos wearing life jackets and holding on to “plastic barrels and pieces of wood” from the bumped Filipino boat.
“The 10 Vietnamese fishermen helped the Filipinos on to their boat, where they were given rice and instant noodles which helped them get warm after many hours of struggling in the sea for their lives,” Theng said.
“After working as a fisherman for many years, this is the first time that my family’s ship has rescued another vessel, especially a foreign ship. I believe that anyone who heads out to sea would have done the same thing, not just us,” he added.
At around 5 a.m., the Filipinos borrowed the Vietnamese boats radio, which they used to communicate with other Filipino fishermen in the area. The Gim-Vir crew members were picked up by their sister boat, the A/G Thanksgiving, at around 2 p.m./PN
