Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha visited Quy Nhon beach in central Binh Dinh province on November 7 to inspect the search for missing sailors and direct response to possible oil spills from sunk freighters in storm Damrey.

Freighter sunk in Quy Nhon waters

Storm Damrey, the 12th of its kind developed in the East Sea, hit the south central coast on November 4. It made eight freighters which anchored at Quy Nhon beach sunk completely, threatening the life of 84 people aboard.

As of mid-November 7, search and rescue forces saved 71 people and found the bodies of 10 others. Currently, 120 military personnel and 18 ships are undertaking search for the three missing sailors and response to the oil spill risk.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Thanh Tung said that this is the biggest-ever maritime incident in Binh Dinh and it is beyond the province’s capacity.

According to ship owners, around 103,000 litres of diesel oil (DO) and over 110 tonnes of fuel oi (FO) are on the sunk freighters, posing a threat of a massive oil spill.

Minister Ha asked the province to quickly salvage the ships as it relates to maritime security and safety at Quy Nhon port.

Storm Damrey that hit Vietnam on November 4 and following downpours and floods had claimed 69 lives and left 30 people missing in central and Central Highlands localities as of 8am of November 7.

More than 1,480 houses collapsed while 119,200 others were damaged. Floods following heavy rains triggered by Damrey also inundated nearly 8,000ha of rice and 14,600ha of other crops.

More than 1,200 fishing vessels were either sunk or ruined while over 24,400 aquatic breeding cages were damaged.-VNA