Eighteen Vietnamese crew onboard the Vietnamese-registered freighter Dolphin 18 which encountered an incident at sea have been safely rescued, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) confirmed on Jan 11. All 18 crew of the Vietnam-registered freighter were rescued in the Singapore maritime search and rescue region.
The Hong Kong-registered container vessel Nicolai Maersk responded to the distress call and arrived on scene shortly after, rescuing all 18 Vietnamese crew from lifeboats.
The incident occurred on January 11 at about 7:00am (Singapore time). The distressed vessel was reported to be about 274 nautical miles southwest of Vung Tau, Vietnam, within the Singapore maritime search and rescue region.
The MPA said all of those rescued “were found to be in healthy condition” and were set to disembark from the Nicolai Maersk in Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia.
“The MRCC Singapore coordinated the search and rescue and immediately issued navigational broadcasts for vessels in the vicinity to keep a lookout and report sightings of the vessel in distress, and also alerted our Vietnamese counterparts,” reads the MPA’s statement.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) operated by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was alerted on January 11 at about 7:00am (Singapore time) by the container vessel Nicolai Maersk that it had received a distress call from the freighter Dolphin 18.
All 18 crew members were successfully rescued.
Since then, the Dolphin 18 has reportedly sunk, said MPA.
The MRCC, meanwhile, issued broadcast for passing vessels to navigate with caution in the area.
