Binh Dinh (VNA) - In Bai Xep, a small, peaceful village onthe south-central coastal province of Binh Dinh, a handful of fishermen have taken onthe task of rescuing container ships foundering in heavy seas.

The huge container vessels weigh thousands of times more than the small fishingboats.

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

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

Everyone in the village vividly recalls a typhoon that arrived at the end of2009, partly because typhoons in the region rarely make it to land.

All able-bodied men in Bai Xep village, including Uncle Nam, rushed to theshore to secure their flimsy boats. Only then did they see, hundreds of metresoff 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 asstrong 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 needhelp, 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 rainslashed night to reach the ship. They found the Japanese crew in a state ofdesperation and wearing white head-bands, a ritual by Japanese sailors as theyapproach death. This startled the Vietnamese, who also wear white atfunerals.

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

Nam made a sign to tell the Japanese to try to lower their anchor into hisboat, hoping the Japanese could slide down on it into his fishing boat.
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After 10 hours battling the waves to keep the link between the two rockingvessels, 12 Japanese crew members were finally delivered from their ill-fatedship.

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

Bai Xep village braced for the typhoon by collecting all fishing nets andtools, and stacked stones to safeguard their houses. At 5am in the morning,amidst these chaotic preparations, Thai Cong Toan, spotted a strugglingMongolian freighter, FeiYue 9, started to founder.

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

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

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

Phan Thi Bau, also known as Nam Bau, did not discourage her eager sons fromgoing into the stormy seas, but armed them with raincoats, safety tools - andtells 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 villagecalled each other to bring blankets and tobacco to the shocked seamen.-VNA