Bai Xep, a village full of heroes: they save stricken seamen

Bai Xep, a village full of heroes
28/01/2018 http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/194647/bai-xep--a-village-full-...

Full of heroes: Men from Bai Xep Village in Binh Dinh Province have rescued many endangered seamen. — Photo tienphong.vn
VietNamNet Bridge – In Bai Xep, a small, peaceful village on the south-central coastal of Binh Dinh, a handful of fishermen have taken on the task of rescuing container ships foundering in heavy seas. The huge container vessels weigh thousands of times more than the small fishing boats.

Braving the elements, for 10 years, these fishermen with hearts of lions have saved nearly 50 crewmen on five vessels from raging seas.

Uncle Nam, a tanned 54-year-old whose real name is Nguyen Huu Kinh, lives in zone 1 of Bai Xep. He said that the nickname "rescue village" for Bai Xep was too much. “It’s a normal response here. We try to save the crews or the ship as best as we can,” he said as he untangled small fish from a net he had dragged in.

Everyone in the village vividly recalls a typhoon that arrived at the end of 2009, partly because typhoons in the region rarely make it to land.

All able-bodied men in Bai Xep Village, including Uncle Nam, rushed to the shore to secure their flimsy boats. Only then did they see, hundreds of metres off the coast, a ship in difficulties flying a Japanese flag. With 30 years’ experience at sea, Uncle Nam could see the vessel was likely to capsize as strong waves and powerful gusts hit it from both sides.

“In this stormy weather, the ship is still out there. Let’s go see if they need help, looks like they don’t really have a way out,” Nam told two of his sons, Nguyen Huu Trong, 28, Nguyen Khac Minh, 24, and a bunch of other men.

Even with years at sea, the men struggled to ride the waves through the rain slashed night to reach the ship. They found the Japanese crew in a state of desperation and wearing white head-bands, a ritual by Japanese sailors as they approach death. This startled the Vietnamese, who also wear white at funerals.

The rescue boat, battling against the storm, could barely stay afloat so any rescues had to be made quickly.

Nam made a sign to tell the Japanese to try to lower their anchor into his boat, hoping the Japanese could slide down on it into his fishing boat.

After 10 hours battling the waves to keep the link between the two rocking vessels, 12 Japanese crew members were finally delivered from their ill-fated ship.

Last year, the devastating typhoon Damrey made landfall near Quy Nhon beach in early November.

Bai Xep Village braced for the typhoon by collecting all fishing nets and tools, and stacked stones to safeguard their houses. At 5am in the morning, amidst these chaotic preparations, Thai Cong Toan, spotted a struggling Mongolian freighter, Fei Yue 9, started to founder.

Foreseeing the sinking of the vessel, Bai Xep villagers crowded together to go to the ship’s aid. Uncle Nam quickly gathered construction workers’ belts and rushed to the shore.

The Mongolian ship was pushed by the winds towards rugged rocks and the situation was hanging by a thread.

A total of 15 crew members, including nine Chinese, seemed to have given up entirely and were ready to jump into waves crashing onto rocks.

Phan Thi Bau, also known as Nam Bau, did not discourage her eager sons from going into the stormy seas, but armed them with raincoats, safety tools - and tells them to be extra careful with the ragged rocks.

Thanks to the courage of Bai Xep villagers, 15 crew members were all saved, literally within an inch of their lives. Nam Bau and other women in the village called each other to bring blankets and tobacco to the shocked seamen.