Sailors Trapped For Five Hours On Board Sinking Ship

An 18-member crew on board a sinking ship bound for China was finally rescued after being stranded for over five hours in open water off Pulau Perak here. The ship, Hodasco 15, started to sink about 10 nautical miles west of the island from 10pm on Sunday after springing a bad leak in the engine compartment. None of the crew members, comprising three Myanmars and 15 Vietnamese, was injured. Maritime 3 district logistics director Lt-Kdr Nurul Hizam Zakaria said yesterday that the 6,045-tonne Hodasco 15 was registered in Mongolia and was carrying iron ore from Calcutta en route to China.Hodasco 15“They were stranded for five hours aboard their sinking ship before another vessel happened to pass by them,” he told reporters at the Malaysia Fisheries Development Board jetty in Kampung Acheh, Lt-Kdr Nurul Hizam said the second ship, MV Boron, was on its way to Syria from India and rescued the crew members on the sinking ship. The crew members and the ship’s captain Le Hoang Quan were then brought to Pulau Pangkor. “Upon reaching Pangkor, MV Boron sent out distress signals to the Malaysia Rescue Co-ordinating Centre in Putrajaya,” said Lt-Kdr Nurul Hizam. The centre dispatched a team of nine maritime officers and three boats from the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency to Pangkor yesterday to bring the crew members back to the Kampung Acheh jetty. “We will help them contact their respective embassies in Kuala Lumpur so arrangements can be made for them to return home,” said Lt-Kdr Nurul Hizam.