MORE than 300 suspected migrants from Sri Lanka were rescued off the coast of Vietnam after their boat began taking in water, Vietnamese authorities said today.

The Myanmar-flagged Lady 3 fishing vessel encountered difficulties around 250 nautical miles off Vung Tau on Vietnam’s southern coast, according to Vietnam’s Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, which said the boat was thought to be heading for Canada, about 6,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean.

“There was an issue with the ship, which meant water flowed into the engine room and could not be fixed since November 5,” the centre said.

After the captain called for help yesterday, Vietnamese authorities asked a Japanese-flagged ship sailing nearby to rescue the Sri Lankans.

The vessel was drifting with a lot of panicked people gathering on the deck, the rescue centre said.

All 303 people, including 20 children, were brought safely to Vung Tau.

Foreign debt-ridden Sri Lanka has for months faced severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines – along with rampant inflation and running blackouts – after running out of foreign exchange to import essential goods.

Security officials have said the spiralling economic crisis may be encouraging unlawful emigration.

A surge in people-smuggling attempts to Australia by boat has prompted Canberra and Colombo to set up a special monitoring centre after fitting fishing boats with GPS tracking devices to curb dangerous human trafficking journeys. – AFP, November 8, 2022.