Thailand, Malaysia Alerted Over Missing Sailors: Vietnam

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Thailand, Malaysia alerted over missing sailors: Vietnam

HANOI, December 30, 2010 (AFP) - Violent winds may have blown 11 missing Vietnamese sailors towards Thailand or Malaysia, a rescue official said Thursday.

"We have informed officials of these two countries about their situation, to help us find them," said Bui Ngoc Tri, of the search and rescue centre in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province of southern Vietnam.

The seamen disappeared after their cargo ship, the Van Don-2, sank early Tuesday about 400 kilometres (250 miles) off the province's coast.

"We still have no information about the 11 missing sailors," Tri said, adding that the search was continuing.

Twelve mariners from the Van Don-2 were rescued and initially taken to an island in the South China Sea before being flown by helicopter to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, he added.

A doctor at the city's Cho Ray Hospital said all had been released except for one who underwent a stomach operation Thursday morning.

His colleagues would fly to Hanoi later Thursday and then return to their base in nearby Quang Ninh province, said an official of Quang Ninh Sea Transport company which operated the Van Don-2.

The ship went down in high winds which are common off Vietnam's coast at this time of year.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-12-30