SGGP English Edition- Seven foreign crew members, barge disappear

LAW

Saturday ,Apr 11,2009, Posted at: 16:00(GMT+7)

Seven foreign crew members, barge disappear

Seven crew members and their barge have been lost in mysterious circumstances. An investigation is underway.

A Malaysian tugboat (code: IMO 9443334) with 11 sailors, (seven Malaysian, three Burmese and one Indonesian), was hired to carry 11,719 tons of sand from the Mekong Delta’s city of Can Tho to Singapore.

The tugboat pulled an empty barge, ASTAKA, and a gravel-laden barge, ASTAKA 5.

The tugboat departed from Can Tho port March 31 but very soon later had to anchor at float No. 23 in the Dinh An Channel, about 8 kilometers from Can Tho port. The captain said water level was unsafe.

On the morning of April 6, the tugboat decided to leave Dinh An Channel for Singapore, without the barges. A navigator working in the Can Tho port also confirmed that he saw a tugboat successfully leave the channel at noon on April 6.

On the morning of April 7, residents from Duyen Hai District, Tra Vinh Province, found the ASTAKA barge adrift just off the coast. At the same time, they also saw four people on lifeboat approaching land.

They were later confirmed as working for the tugboat.

According to Mr. Tran Tuan Kiet, from the Saigon Shipping Jsc.– the company that hired the tugboat, when residents said the word “Police”, all four were frightened and tried to run away.

Approaching the ASTAKA, the police saw a big fire on board. After putting out the fire, the police found that cabins were locked but had no crew inside them. Seven people are unaccounted for, as is ASTAKA 5.

When asked about the incident, the four survivors said they did know what had happened to the other crew members and ASTAKA 5. They said they had been attacked by three armed pirates, blindfolded and bound hand and foot.

In the early afternoon of April 10, the National Committee for Air and Sea Rescue began a search operation for the missing crew and barge.

A search and rescue helicopter left from Tan Son Nhat Airport on the same day to aid the search.

By Cao Phong – Translated by Truong Son