Eight out of the 18 crewmembers of the Saigon Queen who were rescued after the ship sank off Sri Lanka on October 30 with 22 on board returned to Vietnam via Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport yesterday.

Four of the eight rescued sailors of the sunken ship arrived at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport on November  - Photo: Tuoi Tre

The eight sailors returned on two flights, one of which arrived at the airport at 11 am, the other at 6:35 pm, said Le Minh, deputy director of Saigon Shipping Joint Stock Company, the ship’s owner.

These sailors had flown home from Bangladesh, and the remaining crewmembers are expected to return home today, November 7, he said, adding that the search for the four missing sailors, including the ship’s captain, remains ongoing.

After checking out of the airport, the eight sailors were taken by the company to Nhat Quang Hotel in District 1, HCMC, to rest. They will eventually be contacted by their insurance company to discuss compensation payments, Minh said.

The company has paid for the airfare for the 18 crewmembers and will give each of them VND3 million (US$144) as initial support before arranging for them to return to their families as soon as possible, Minh said.

As previously reported, at 12:12 pm on October 30, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC) received emergency signals indicating a potentially hazardous situation from the Saigon Queen while it was transporting wood products from Myanmar to India.

The Saigon Queen was seen before it sank off Sri Lanka on October 30, 2012 (Photo: Vietnam MRCC)

However, soon thereafter the MRCC lost all contact with the ship because of bad weather conditions in the area.

The MRCC then coordinated with the Vietnam Shipping Communications and Electronics Company (Vishipel) in releasing urgent messages calling for rescue efforts from the Sri Lankan search and rescue force, the US Coast Guard, India’s Chennai MRCC, and other ships that were operating nearby.

At 9:20 pm, rescuers from the Cyprus-flagged Pacific Skipper saved three crewmembers and maintained contact with 15 others who were adrift on their life rafts after the ship sank. All these sailors were rescued later.

Meanwhile, four other crewmen, including captain Nguyen Minh Luan, 51, chief mechanic Hoang Van Ban, 58, Tran Van De, 54, a mechanic, and Pham Phu Huu, 27, a sailor, were reported missing.

Source: tuoitrenews.vn