Underwater robot to search for nine missing Vietnamese fishermen

By Sen July 8, 2019 | 10:00 pm PT

A Vietnamese vessel that is part of the team to search for nine fishermen whose boat sank off the northern coast on June 28, 2019. Photo by VnExpress.

The government has approved the deployment of a diving robot to search for nine fishers missing since June 28 after their boat sank off the northern coast.

Nguyen Van Thach, director of the Ministry of Transport’s traffic safety department, said his ministry has got the Ministry of National Defense's approval to send its navy force's robot from the southern beach town Vung Tau to help with the search mission, media reports said.

The search for the missing fishermen had been suspended due to a tropical storm but resumed on Saturday. But divers have not been successful in reaching the vessel, which is under an estimated 69 meters of water.

The boat with 19 men sank off Hai Phong at 1 p.m. on June 28 after being rammed by cargo vessel Pacific 01 owned by a Ho Chi Minh City company.

One person was killed and nine others were rescued, and the remaining nine are still missing.

The Pacific 01 stopped immediately and rescued the nine fishermen. The ship has since joined the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center and other boats in the area to look for the missing men.