Freighter Sinks Fishing Vessel Off Vietnam

On Wednesday, the general cargo ship ?ông Phong 68 struck and sank a fishing vessel off of the resort town of Mui Ne, Vietnam. Four fishermen abandoned ship into the water and were rescued by the crew of the ?ông Phong.

The ship brought the survivors ashore at Mui Ne and remains there at anchor. Major Pham Xuan The of the Mui Ne Border Station told local media that officials are still investigating the collision. 

At the time of the collision, the ?ông Phong 68 was under way to Nghe An with a cargo of 2,500 tons of fertilizer. The 3,600 dwt vessel is owned and managed by Dong Phong Shipping of Haiphong. 

The ?ông Phong 68 was in another serious collision in March 2014, when she struck the 900 dwt general cargo vessel Minh Khai 126 about 15 nm off Quang Tri, sinking the Minh Khai. All of the crewmembers were saved, six by the ?ông Phong and one by the Minh Khai 18. 

Intermanager, the international trade association for ship management, says that the busy shipping corridors of Europe and East Asia are the most active areas for marine casualties; the South China Sea saw an uptick of 12 percent in 2014, and it had the highest number of collisions of any region. Data collected by Allianz found that Southeast Asia led the world in total vessel losses in 2015, and also for the period from 2005-2015. 

 “Extra care should be taken amongst . . . those operating in Northern Europe and South East Asia, which will continue to be hotspots for casualty incidents," said Gary Li, senior analyst at IHS Maritime & Trade, quoted in Intermanager’s review.