Due to the effects of the ongoing cold snap, the tropical depression moving through the East Sea is likely to downgrade into a low-pressure system, while many vessels off central Vietnam have suffered incidents caused by rough seas.
Yesterday evening the tropical depression, with winds of 39-61 kph, moved west at 10 kph and reached an area north of the Truong Sa (Spartly) Islands.
Today the depression has slowed, but is continuing to move west at 5 kph, with winds of 39-49 kph. At 1 pm today it will lay centered 130 km northwest of the Truong Sa (Spartly) Islands.
The depression has been causing rough seas and strong winds to the middle and southern areas of the East Sea off Vietnam.
In the next 24 to 48 hours, the depression, under the influence of the cold snap at sea, will move west-southwest at 5-10 kph and may gradually weaken into a low-pressure system.
The Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control and the National Search and Rescue Committee have instructed their local units in the coastal region from Quang Ngai to Ca Mau to take precautionary measures to cope with the negative developments of the depression.
Yesterday morning, a fishing boat with 7 fishermen on board was found drifting at sea 120 nautical miles off Binh Dinh Province. Boats operating nearby rescued it.
Meanwhile, the provincial Border Guard Command said it has still not found a fishing boat with 11 fishermen that had drifted away after its engine broke down 136 nautical miles off Khanh Hoa Province.
The Command said it had received SOS signals from the boat but was unable to contact it later.
The provincial authorities also reported a case from last Saturday, in which a fishing boat with 4 fishermen sank while taking shelter from the bad weather at Ninh Chu harbour in Binh Thuan Province. There have been no reports on the situation of the fishermen.
The same day, a rescue boat from the Zone II Maritime Search and Rescue Center rescued and towed a boat with 26 fishermen from Quang Ngai Province to Quy Nhon Port after finding it adrift due to an engine breakdown.
A 12-member fishing boat, also from Quang Ngai, was damaged by violent waves on Saturday in the seas around te Truong Sa Islands and needed to be rescued urgently, the Quang Ngai authorities reported.
Four fishing boats operating nearby have been trying to reach the damaged boat, the authorities said.
Another fishing boat with 12 fishermen from Quang Ngai was rescued Saturday by a naval ship. The ship found the boat drifting 132 nautical miles off Song Tu Tay Island, part of the Truong Sa Islands.
Meanwhile, two other naval ships have searched for 6 other fishing boats that reportedly suffered incidents at sea near Truong Sa. Rescuers have yet to find these boats.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has suggested Vietnam and Australia work harder to lift their bilateral ties to a new height while meeting with Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Anna Burke in Hanoi on May 22.
Vietnam always attaches importance to promoting friendship and all-round cooperation with the Republic of Korea (RoK), Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has said.
