The Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department received vessel KN 781, the largest and most state-of-the-art fisheries surveillance ship in Vietnam so far, from the shipbuilder on Monday.
This is one of the two largest ships of its kind that have been built by northern Quang Ninh Province-based Ha Long Ship Building Company, under the Ship Building Industry Corporation (SBIC), which is implementing a program to build steel-clad fishing boats on a pilot basis.
The building of such ships has taken place after China deployed oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 and its escorting ships in Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea on May 1, violating Vietnam’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
Ship KN 981 is 90.5 meters long and 14 meters wide. It has a loading capacity of 500 tons and a displacement of 2,000 tons, and can operate continuously in a range of 5,000 nautical miles.
The other ship, KN 782, which is under a test run, will be handed over to the department later this month, the shipbuilder said.
Both ships have been designed by the Netherlands’ Damnen Group in accordance with European standards, the shipyard said.
During his visit to the shipyard early last month, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung directed the shipbuilder to build 12 more ships for the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department.
The Chinese vessels that are guarding the illegal oil rig have often rammed or fired their water cannons at Vietnamese vessels, including coast guard, fisheries surveillance and fishing boats.
Such attacks have so far injured 15 fisheries surveillance officers together with two fishermen, as well as damaged 27 boats belonging to Vietnam’s marine law enforcement and Coast Guard forces and seven local fishing boats, the department reported.
Tuoi Tre/Tuoi Tre News