A Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper photo collection demonstrates the resilience of the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force members who are tasked with requesting China to remove its illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 from Vietnamese waters.

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The pictures were shot by two Tuoi Tre reporters who were on board Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force ship HP 926 for one week from May 10 to 16 near the site of the illegally-planted drilling facility.

Haiyang Shiyou 981 has been placed at 15°29’58’’ North latitude and 111°12’06’’ East longitude in the East Vietnam Sea, within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, since May 1 despite strong protests from the Southeast Asian country.

The force, the first of its kind in the country, made its debut in a ceremony held in the central city of Da Nang in April this year.

The Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Directorate of Fisheries, is tasked with detecting, controlling, and handling violations of Vietnam’s fisheries laws and regulations that occur in the country’s sea areas. It will also help ensure safety for fishermen and their vessels at sea as well as monitor and manage the country’s fisheries resources.

The force’s ships have been rammed or blasted with water cannons by Chinese vessels during the past days when have been trying to persuade Beijing’s watercrafts to leave and take Haiyang Shiyou 981 out of Vietnamese waters.

Two members of the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force are seen aboard HP 926 collecting the wreckage of a Vinasat antenna that was broken after the Vietnamese ship was blasted with water cannons from a China Coast Guard vessel. Photo taken May 14, 2014

Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force members use a spongy mattress to reinforce their ship’s glass windows to cope with water-cannon attacks from Chinese vessels near Beijing’s illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters. Photo taken May 13, 2014. 

A Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force member receives printed newspapers transported from the mainland. Photo taken May 13, 2014

Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force members sing traditional songs to encourage one another. Photo taken May 12, 2014.

China Coast Guard vessel #2401 is pictured aggressively firing a water cannon at a Vietnamese ship near Beijing’s illegitimate oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters. Photo taken May 15, 2014.

Although many Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force ships have been damaged by attacks from Chinese vessels, the marine force members still stand firm in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago waters, where Beijing’s illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 is located, to demand that China withdraw the platform. Photo taken May 13, 2014.

A China Coast Guard vessel is pictured moving near Beijing’s illegal oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters. Photo taken May 12, 2014.

Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force ship #767 (middle) is seen being chased and blasted with water cannons from two Chinese vessels near Beijing’s illicit oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters. Photo taken May 12, 2014.

Two members of the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force hang a national flag. Photo taken May 14, 2014.

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