After spending nine days holding on for dear life in a coracle in rough seas off the Spratly Islands, four fishermen say they survived on rainwater and prayers.
“Lady luck came to us on the 9th day,” said Ha Van Tan, 45, one of the four rescued Tuesday. All four have been brought to central Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa Province for medical treatment.
Tan said he was part of a 15-strong crew on a fishing vessel helmed by 50-year-old Bui Van Toan.
On July 10, as they were trying to get back to shore, their ship was severely damaged by big waves about 155 km away from Phu Quy Island.
The 15 crew members divided themselves into two coracles to escape from the sinking vessel.
“Our coracle had seven people, but after several days of drifting at sea, three died of exhaustion.
When their bodies began to smell, we had no choice but to drop them off,” Tan said.
In the days that followed, the surviving four had to fight off monstrous waves at sea. To prevent themselves from losing consciousness, they constantly splashed seawater onto their faces and strove hard to keep the coracle from sinking. Once they saw a vessel far away and screamed for help in vain.
Later, a foreign vessel that passed by offered them some food and water, but refused to rescue them. Tran Theo, 55, one of the rescued fishermen, guessed that their rejection was based on fear. The rations were not much for four people and didn’t last long.