While moving to south-central Khanh Hoa Province to seek shelter from Storm Molave, 26 fishermen went missing after two fishing boats from south-central Binh Dinh Province sank on Tuesday afternoon.

The fishing boat numbered BD 96388 TS and owned by Le Van Minh from Binh Dinh’s Hoai Nhon District left the province for fishing on October 5.

It sank at around 1:00 pm on Tuesday while it was about 143.5 nautical miles (265.7 km) offshore in Khanh Hoa’s Cam Ranh Bay area.

Around 30 minutes later, another boat found the location of fishing boat BD 96388 TS, but 12 fishermen were not seen on the vessel.

Khanh Hoa authorities asked all boats and ships operating in the area where the incident occurred to help search for the missing.

At 4:30 pm on the same day, the fishing boat BD 97469 capsized while its was 172 nautical miles (318.5 km) east of Khanh Hoa’s Hon Tre Island.

All 14 fishermen on the boat lost contact with the mainland. Their families have requested rescue.

The Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Zone 4 tried to contact the two fishing boats but still failed as of Wednesday morning, according to the center’s director Nguyen Xuan Binh.

“We are making every effort but it remains impossible to send boats and forces to the place where the two sunk fishing boats are to search for fishermen due to strong waves and winds,” said Ta Quang Dung, deputy commander of the Border Guard Command of Khanh Hoa Province.

Storm Molave is approaching the mainland of the central localities from Da Nang City to Phu Yen Province, bringing violent winds, heavy rains, and dangerous waves.

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