Chinese ship rescues three drifting fishermen en route to Dominican Republic

Santa Cruz de Tenerife.- A Chinese-flagged ship en route to the Dominican Republic, carrying three individuals who were rescued from a drifting boat three days after departing the Spanish Canary Islands.

According to a statement from the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service, the Xin An Ning ship is heading to the port of Río Haina near Santo Domingo with the rescued individuals on board.

The Maritime Rescue Service coordinated the rescue last night, local time, after receiving an alert from a friend of the stranded fishermen. The fishermen had left the island of El Hierro three days earlier for a fishing trip when they became stranded approximately 600 kilometers from the island.

The state entity managed to contact the inflatable boat via satellite telephone. The fishermen explained that they couldn’t call for help because the SOS button on their phones was malfunctioning and they had no credit, although they had a battery and the ability to recharge it.

After providing their position, nearly 600 kilometers southwest of El Hierro, Maritime Rescue searched for nearby ships and found the Xin An Ning, which diverted course to assist the stranded boat.

At 09:04 local time (07:04 GMT), the Xin An Ning reported that it had successfully rescued the three individuals, all in good health, and continued its journey to the Dominican Republic with them.