Vietnam has requested the owner of a Taiwanese fishing boat to clearly report on the missing of three Vietnamese sailors who jumped from the ship into the sea off Japan last week.   

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said the central government has asked that the owner of the Taiwanese fishing ship Hsiang Fur Far issue a detailed report about the missing seafarers.

The three Vietnamese sailors were reported to jump from the ship into the waters off the coast of the northern Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido on October 8, the ministry said.

After the jump, a number of sailors on board the ship tried to search for the three but they failed to find them.

The owner of the Taiwanese ship said that these sailors –  Le Van Thuc, Thieu Dinh Thuong, and Nguyen Dinh Nga – jumped into the sea, about 12km away from the Shiraoi Port.

The three were among 21 Vietnamese sailors aboard the ship that carried a total of 61 crew members.

After being informed of the case, the Japan Coast Guard deployed five ships and two planes to search for the sailors, the Vietnamese ministry said.

Vietnam’s Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei is contacting the ship owner in Kaohsiung to seek further information so that Vietnamese authorities can take measures to protect all the remaining Vietnamese sailors on board.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Japan is continuing to work closely with Japan’s competent agencies to search for the missing sailors.

The Vietnamese Consular Department is also working with domestic agencies to verify the identities of the missing.

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