Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This footage shows the dramatic air-sea rescue of a fishing crew who were found adrift and sitting hopelessly on the hull of their capsized ship.
The Fujian Maritime Safety Administration said 13 crew of fishing vessel Min Shi Yu 07705 were rescued and four remain unaccounted for.
An SOS call was sent to the Fujian Maritime Search and Rescue Center at 6:43am local time on 5th December, with a rescue vessel later finding the upturned boat some 60 nautical miles off the coast of Zhangzhou City in East China’s Fujian Province.
The authorities said the ship had faced gale measuring 10 on the Beaufort scale as well as waves raising 22 feet before it capsized in the Taiwan Strait.
Its sister vessel Min Shi Yu 07705 was nearby but not equipped to carry out a rescue.
Coastguard helicopters, vessels and civilian boats were mobilised, and by 10:25am 13 had been rescued, maritime officials said.
Footage shows the helicopter crew finding 10 fishermen huddled together on the hull of their upside-down vessel before airlifting them to safety.
Three had already been pulled onto civilian boats by that time.
All 13 were taken to hospital and in stable condition, reports said.
The four missing fishermen are still being sought by air-sea rescue personnel, with two foreign vessels in the region reportedly enlisted to help with the search.
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