Crew of missing Taiwanese ship, including two Vietnamese, remain unfound; search underway

Nguyen Xuan Tao, head of the Board of Management of Vietnamese Workers in Taiwan, on Thursday said the board has yet to receive any results from the search for the Hsiang Fu Chun that disappeared off the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, on February 26.

The two Vietnamese sailors among the 49-member crew have been identified as Tran Van Cuong, 28, from the north-central province of Ha Tinh, and Nguyen Van Thuan, 40, from neighboring Nghe An Province, Tao said.

The other missing crew members include 21 Indonesians, 14 Chinese, and 12 Filipinos, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

During the past few days, Taiwan has mobilized many vessels to search for the ship and its crew, while Argentina has sent 18 fishing boats to the waters where the ship disappeared to join the mission, but these efforts have yet to pay off, the news agency said.

On Thursday, the Taipei Trade and Cultural Office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said the host country has decided to send a specialized ship to the scene to join ongoing search efforts, the agency reported, adding that it will take many days for the rescue ship to travel to the waters.

Argentina had planned to use planes in the search but it did not do so as this solution was unfeasible given the distance to the site, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The Hsiang Fu Chun was sailing about 1,700 nautical miles (3,148 kilometers) off the coast of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands when it vanished, according to recorded satellite data.

The two Vietnamese sailors were sent abroad for work on January 16 by the labor export branch of the Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation and the International Manpower Supply and Training One-Member Co. Ltd.

In a recent talk with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Cuong’s relatives said he is a single man whose parents have passed away. “Cuong wanted to become a guest worker in Taiwan to support his poor family. Nobody could imagine this incident would happen…,” Cuong’s elder sister said.

He paid VND12.5 million (US$585) as fees for his work on the Hsiang Fu Chun for a monthly salary of about $500, his sister said.

The People’s Committee of Nghi Thiet Commune in Nghe An Province told Tuoi Tre that local authorities have comforted Thuan’s relatives, who are waiting for further information on the search.