Vietnam - Missing crew entitled to big insurance benefits

Each of the families of 22 missing crewmen aboard the Vinalines Queen ship believed to have sunk in the Philippine seas can claim up to US$40,000 in insurance, a representative of Vinalines Shipping Company has said.

Le An Son, deputy general director of Vinalines Shipping, which owns the ship, told VnExpress Newswire that the vessel’s shipping insurance could reach up to US$20 million, much greater than the vessel’s current real value.

He said the company had earlier bought accident insurances for all crewmen worth $25,000 each. But the families of the missing crew members could claim as much as $40,000 since his company had also purchased accident insurance from a foreign firm.

However, Son declined to talk about the insurance of goods on the ship. The ship was carrying 54,400 tons of Nickel ore from Indonesia’s Morowali Port to Ningde Port in China on December 25 when it went missing.

Some insurance experts said it might take a long time to receive compensations from the insurance firms.

“In principle, insurance firms only pay when they’ve determined the exact cause of the accident and decided how much to pay,” a former director of a Japanese-owned insurance firm, who declined to be named, said.

Son said the company was now coordinating with National Search and Rescue Center to search for the vessel and its crewmen.

According to Son, Vinalines Queen is a new and modern vessel and the sinking is an unwanted accident that has happened for the first time in his company’s history.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang told local media at a press conference on Tuesday that the Vinalines Queen accident was now the ministry’s highest priority.

“Rescue operations will go on until all of the missing victims are confirmed dead,” Thang said.

The ministry has also asked the government to ask for assistance from foreign countries to help in the rescue efforts.

Sole survivor returns home

British-flagged London Courage ship, which has rescued crewman Dau Ngoc Hung, the only survivor of the missing vessel, is scheduled to arrive in Marine South Pier Port in Singapore today, January 4.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore will pick up Hung by a small boat.

According to the embassy, Hung is expected to leave Singapore on Vietnam Airlines’ VN 660 flight at 2:00 pm today and will arrive in Hanoi at 6:00pm.

Hung had floated for six days with only a life jacket on the 5,000m-deep Philippine seas before he was rescued by London Courage on December 30 while the vessel was on its way to Singapore.

Wife and daughter of the survivor Dau Ngoc Hung show  their happiness after knowing he is still alive.

Tuoi Tre

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