Source: Focus Taiwan
A fire broke out aboard a Taiwanese-flagged tuna longliner vessel off the island of Guam Saturday, prompting all nine crew members to abandon ship, who were later rescued by a nearby cargo vessel, according to a report the following day by a radio station in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan.
The crew of the “Hsin Man Chun,†registered in Pingtung, were rescued by a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel, the Tungkang fishing port radio station said.
The cargo ship is scheduled to arrive in the Chinese city of Qingdao April 24, from where the rescued crew will return to Taiwan, according to the report.
A helicopter was deployed by the United States in an attempt to winch the men to safety, but the attempt failed, according to Taiwan’s National Rescue Command Center.
The U.S. authorities then asked the cargo ship to rescue the nine people on board -- skipper Huang Ming-yuan and eight Indonesian crew, the center said.
The 60.56-ton deep-sea longline fishing vessel sailed for Guam in January to fish for tuna and swordfish.