Three Vietnamese fishermen are safe after their boat sank off Quang Tri province, in central Vietnam, on 26 October 2026. A nearby fishing boat picked them up before their boat went down.
Bao Ha Tinh, the newspaper of Ha Tinh province, reported the rescue the same evening. It says the health of the three men is stable. When the newspaper wrote its report, they were on their way back to shore.
What happened
The boat was the fishing boat HT-90320TS, from Vung Ang ward in Ha Tinh province. It had three crew members on board.
At 13:45 on 26 October, the boat lost its VMS connection. VMS is a vessel monitoring system. It sends the boat's position to the fisheries authorities. The Ha Tinh Fisheries Sub-Department then called the owner's family and the local authorities to find out what happened.
The family said that a water valve on the boat broke. The crew tried to fix it, but they could not. Water came in, and the boat sank at about 16:00. The place was about 27 nautical miles from the coast of Quang Tri. One nautical mile is 1.852 kilometres.
The rescue
The three fishermen left the boat before it sank completely. A fishing boat that was nearby came quickly and took them on board.
The newspaper has not said what type of valve broke or why. Officials have not published a report on the cause.
What crews can learn
These are general safety points for small fishing boats. They are not findings about this boat:
Check the valves, pipes and hull openings below the waterline often. Replace old or rusty parts before you sail.
Know where each valve is and how to close it fast. Keep tools and wooden plugs ready to stop a leak.
Make sure the bilge pump works. A bilge pump removes water from the bottom of the boat.
If you cannot stop the water, call for help early on the radio. Then leave the boat in time, with life jackets on.
Keep the VMS and other tracking devices working. When the signal stops, the authorities know something may be wrong and can start looking for you.
Cover photo: A Vietnamese fishing boat at anchor near Phu Quoc harbour, southern Vietnam, November 2025. Illustrative photo, not the boat in this story. Photo: Elmschrat/Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped).
Sources: Bao Ha Tinh: Three Ha Tinh fishermen rescued in time after their boat sank off Quang Tri (in Vietnamese, 26 Oct 2026), Khoa hoc va Doi song via Vietnam.vn: Three fishermen in distress at sea off Quang Tri rescued in time (26 Oct 2026).
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