A Vietnamese fishing boat with ten people on board was sunk after being rammed by an unidentified vessel off central Vietnam on Friday, with no casualties but huge loss of property reported.

The ship QNg 98495 was crashed by a vessel coded 00098880, possibly a foreign-flagged boat, when it was fishing some 70 nautical miles (130km) off Con Co Island in the central province of Quang Tri around midday, according to accounts from the fishermen.

The boat was owned by a fisherman in Pho Quang Commune, Quang Ngai Province, and steered by a local man at the time of the attack, Vo Van Sinh, the commune’s chairman, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper late Friday.

The Vietnamese ship left a port in the central city of Da Nang on the night of December 31, heading for the Gulf of Tonkin for the New Year’s catch, according to the chairman.

The Vietnamese fishermen said the ship that attacked them looked like a foreign netting boat.

“The fishermen told me via Icom radio that they were sleeping when they heard a big noise outside,” Sinh said.

“Panicked, they rushed outside and saw the 00098880 vessel constantly rammed into their boat.”

The fishermen on board the ship QNg 98495 managed to call for help from six nearby Vietnamese vessels before their boat completely sunk, and called ashore via radio to report the incident to authorities, Sinh added.

“We lost contact of them at around 8:00 pm, and their families were extremely worried,” Sinh said.

However, all of the ten fishermen had arrived home safely as of 9:30 pm, according to the chairman.

All of the fishing equipment was lost with the ship, with financial damage estimated at around VND3.5 billion (US$156,250), according to the fishermen.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!