It was not happy news for all citizens, be it because they were religious minorities or opposed to the hardcore communist rule during the early years, and many fled immediately and even up to six years later in boats that were often unseaworthy. Several Danish merchant ships rescued some of them – altogether some 7000 people in 70 incidents – and the record was the Clara Mærsk that took onboard no less than 3628 people from a cargo ship that was close to sinking.
I will start with the story of the rescue by the 499 GRT coaster from the Danish shipping company Pepnautic
In 2016, I was contacted by one of the refugees on the English maritime forum Ships Nostalgia. He had seen that I knew Mark Plutte. A former captain and supercargo of Torm Lines where I worked from 1981 to 2002. Thao, as this Vietnamese man is called, wanted to get in touch with Mark Plutte, who in 1980 was the mate of the Pep Sun, and with Mads Berg Christensen, who was the captain on board when Thao and 109 others were picked up by the ship. He was 13 years old at the time. He told me that it was his nephew and his (later) wife’s niece, whom Captain Christensen is holding hands with in the photo show here. Often whole families set out at sea together in the hope of a new life somewhere – somehow.
I could easily comply with the request for contact, as I still had contact with Mark.
Mate Mark Plutte on the rescue:
The two dilapidated, overcrowded fishing boats that the refugees were on had not gotten far from Saigon, which had now become Ho Chi Minh City. It was at Vungtau, 180 nautical miles southwest of the mouth of the Mekong River, that Pep Sun spotted the boats, and there was no doubt in Captain Christensen’s mind that they needed help and should have it. There was no immediate danger, but it was still a last-minute rescue, because just two days later a cyclone raged right through that area. The refugees might then have had a somewhat worse fate, but by then Pep Sun had safely reached Singapore’s shores.
The little girl on her first sea voyage:
In a publication that can be found on the internet, Appetite for Life, there is an account of a woman who was also among the refugees that Pep Sun took on board:
In the photo, the little, dark girl is standing next to a tall Danish man with white hair, white shirt and white shorts. In the doorway to the white wheelhouse. The contrast could hardly be greater. Communication was not easy. The Vietnamese did not know English, only “S.O.S.”.
The little girl is on her first sea voyage on her way to a whole new life. The Danish man has been sailing for many years and is not young anymore. He has had a long life at sea. The man is the captain of the Pep Sun. The ship became the first destination on a long journey for the girl and her family. The final destination was Denmark, where her family sought refugee status and that is where she made her life.
Captain Christensen died several years ago, but he was very proud to have saved all these people and helped give them a new life. Mate Mark Plutte has lived in Australia for many years and has therefore not seen any of these people again, but he sent them the photos he took at the time, as well as the SOS flag they had set. It was returned to the rightful owner – who no longer needed it, as he reached a safe haven in Denmark.
Clara Mærsk took more than 3600 on board
As said at the beginning this was the largest single rescue of Vietnamese boat refugees ever. It was already in 1975, and it was the Danish cargo-liner Clara Mærsk– one of the seven ships in the C-series from around 1967, which were later converted into container ships. The ship had sailed from Singapore on April 30, 1975 on its way to Hong Kong and was fired upon by a small gunboat, now manned by Khmer Rouge people, off the coast of Cambodia, but without being hit. It was already the day after the Americans had evacuated Saigon at the time when the Khmer Rouge had also taken over Cambodia and started their reign of terror – later described as “The Killing Fields”. No less than 3628 refugees had set out on the ship “Truong Xuan”, and these must have been people who were very afraid of the Vietcong taking on power. The situation became critical on the ship, which took in seawater, but many on board were dehydrated.
The ship was spotted by Clara Mærsk on May 2, and the 3628 people were taken on board. There are well-known photos where they are all over the ship, and one of them is shown here, with the captain inserted. Every effort had to be made to provide food and drink for them. But Hong Kong was not far away, and there they were put ashore. Several of them also came to Denmark, which they chose “because they were grateful and wanted to pay back to Denmark”. That story is the subject of a documentary on Danish TV 2025 where some of them tells us of the rescue and their subsequent lives as Danish citizens. One woman also travels to the Faroe Islands to meet with the widow of Captain Anton Olsen, who was captain at the time – with his wife onboard. It is also the topic of The Danish Maritime Museum’s 2025 yearbook – “SOS – Reddet på åbent hav” and an exhibition that will appear until 30th August 2026. Anton Olsen was awarded “Ridderkorset” – The Knight’s Order – for his deed.
Here is a link to the exhibition:
https://mfs.dk/sos-reddet-pa-abent-hav
Arnold Mærsk saved a 13-year-old boy – six years later he was a cadet on the ship himself
There is also another ray of sunshine story that some in the industry will remember, and which can round off this article. In 1981, the war had been over for six years, but there were still many who fled the country with the very changed living conditions for the South Vietnamese. Arnold Mærsk, which was one of Maersk’s first series of cell container ships built in 1975-76, was like Clara Mærsk 6 years earlier on its way through the South China Sea. Captain Jørgen Orla Hansen spotted a smaller boat and decided to divert the ship and help. There were about 60 people on board who were taken aboard, and one of them was 13-year-old Ngoc Nguyen (source: Supplychain, article May 17, 2020), who was with his mother and three siblings. They were dropped off in Hong Kong, and six months later they were granted asylum in Denmark.
Ngoc never forgot the ship that had taken him aboard, and when it came to choosing an education, he had no doubt: He wanted to be a seaman. He became a deck cadet at Maersk in 1989. Whether it was a complete coincidence the story does not say, but his first deployment was on the same Arnold Maersk! Later, as a fully qualified mate, he met the same captain on the Mathilde Maersk who had saved him and his family back in 1981. In February 2020, he himself was promoted to captain, and his first ship was the Thomas Maersk sailing between Europe and West Africa. It must be said that the Vietnamese have been extraordinarily good at integrating themselves already in the first generation.
Source: Michael Brauball
