Identified as Tran Van Phuong, Pham Dinh Suong, Tran Van Thanh, Cao Vuong and Nguyen Tuan from the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, they were employed by Taiwanese companies under labour contracts with the Tourist, Trade and Labour Export JSC (TTLC) of the Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation (VINAMOTOR). 

Learning about their arrest, the Vietnamese Embassy in Tanzania had actively coordinated with concerned agencies both at home and abroad to ensure the crew members’ safety and to seek acquittal for them. 

The embassy had helped the crew members deal with difficulties in their daily lives, provided them with health care and completed procedures to bring them home. 

The Vietnamese crew members were scheduled to arrive in Vietnam on July 22. 

The five Vietnamese and another 26 crew members from China, Indonesia , the Philippines and Kenya were set free by the Tanzanian Supreme Court on July 14. 

They were arrested for alleged illegal fishing on March 8, 2009 while they were on the Taiwanese fishing vessel, Tawariq 1. 

Of the acquitted crew members, one Kenyan died in prison. 

Five other Chinese members of the vessel, comprising captain, engineers and agents, have remained in prison after the court put them on their defense.