Philippine shipping company pays $45,000 for sinking Vietnamese boat

Vo Dinh Phuong, the owner of the fishing boat, said last Saturday he had received the money from the owner of the freighter White To Mony.

His boat with six crew members was fishing 13 nautical miles east-northeast of La Gi Town in the south central province of Binh Thuan when it was accidentally rammed by the ship. The crew members jumped overboard and were rescued by a boat that had been fishing nearby.

The ship did not stop after the collision, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

According to the Binh Thuan Province Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, through the automatic identification system installed on Phuong’s boat, the White To Mony was found to have been sailing through the area at the time of the collision.

On May 5 the company owning the cargo ship contacted Phuong to negotiate compensation.