Four people were killed as a result of a collision between two vessels off the port city of Haiphong in northeastern Vietnam on Tuesday, April 8.
Initial reports stated that the Panamanian-flagged general cargo vessel Hosei Crown had earlier departed Haiphong and was en route to the Philippines when it struck the locally-registered fishing vessel TH 92686 TS in foggy conditions at around 05:45 local time on Tuesday.
The smaller fishing vessel sank due to the force of the impact and all 12 of its crew ended up in the water.
The local maritime search and rescue (SAR) coordination centre despatched a rescue boat to the area and ordered the cargo ship's crew to deploy its own liferafts to help pick up any survivors.
SAR personnel subsequently pulled eight survivors and the bodies of four deceased fishermen from the surrounding waters.
The deceased victims and the survivors were later brought back to Haiphong and then handed over to local authorities for processing.
An investigation has been launched to identify the events that led to the incident.