China on Sunday deployed 54 fishing boats in a 15-nautical-mile line in front of China’s illegal oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s waters to prevent Vietnamese fishing ships from operating in their traditional fishing ground.

>> China sends 3 fighter planes to illegal rig’s area in Vietnam’s waters>> Chinese boats caught illegally fishing in Vietnam’s waters >> China towing second oil rig to East Vietnam Sea amid tensions>> Chinese vessels challenge Vietnam’s ships at 10-meter distance

Yesterday, June 22, China deployed 137 vessels – 19 more than on Saturday – including the above fishing boats, 44 coast guard ships, 25 transport boats, 19 tugboats, and five military ships around the drilling platform, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department said. Throughout Sunday, the iron-clad Chinese fishing boats were arranged in a horizontal formation in areas 35-40 nautical miles from the rig to scare local vessels from their normal fishing sites in Vietnamese waters. With the support of Chinese coast guard ship #46102, these large fishing boats were ready to crash into local ships at any time.  Meanwhile, the other Chinese vessels approached local ships in areas 10-12 nautical miles from the platform and tried to ram or fire water cannons at them whenever possible. Despite such threats, Vietnamese vessels tried to get as close to the rig as possible to demand its withdrawal from the Vietnamese sea area. There were many times when the distance between the foreign boats and local ones was only 30 meters. At 6:40 am and 8:13 am, two Chinese spy planes hovered above the area at an elevation of 1,000-1,200 meters. At 8:00 am, when Vietnam Coast Guard vessel CSB 8003 and several other Vietnamese ships entered an area about 10 nautical miles from the rig, eight Chinese vessels began speeding toward them, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper correspondents reported from the scene.  Vessel CSB 8003 was then approached by three Chinese ships, including coast guard ships #3210 and #2401. Vessel #3210 later rushed toward the local ship, forcing it to speed away in order to dodge a collision. At 9:00 am, a Chinese fighter plane was seen hovering at an altitude of 900 meters above Vietnamese vessels.    China has deployed and maintained the drilling platform to the Vietnamese waters since May 1 despite Vietnam’s repeated demand that Beijing remove the rig from the area immediately. Meanwhile, the Vietnam Coast Guard is keeping a close watch on the movements of China’s Nan Hai Jiu Hao oil rig, the second drilling platform Beijing said would be towed to an area near the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Vietnam Sea.  In a notice on its website on June 17, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the new drilling platform would be towed between June 18 and 20 by a tugboat to a spot at 17°14.1' North latitude and 109°31' East longitude in the East Vietnam Sea.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!