Vietnam rescues Filipino fishermen stranded at sea

At around 7 a.m. Saturday, Ednor Villacino, 30, Rolly Baleso, 30, Rommel Evan, 32, and Eraed Dayot, 41, departed Filipino fishing vessel Athan to fish. But they got lost and stranded around 24 nautical miles to the southeast of Sand Cay, part of Vietnam's Spratly Islands, Vietnam News Agency reported.

At around 3:30 p.m. the same day, a Vietnamese fishing vessel found and rescued the four fishermen, while broadcasting a distress signal to request help from authorities.

A vessel of the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance, at the time operating near South Reef, received the signal and came to the rescue. The four Filipinos, taken to Southwest Cay for medical assistance, are now in stable health, Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance said Monday.

This is not the first time Vietnamese fishermen have rescued Filipinos stranded at sea. In 2019, fishermen from the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang made world headlines after rescuing 22 Filipino fishermen whose boat sank after a collision with a Chinese vessel near Reed Bank of the Spratly Archipelago in the East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea.