On Friday, Chinese boats guarding China’s illegal oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnamese waters tried to get close to local vessels in order to ram them whenever possible, Tuoi Tre correspondents reported from the scene.

>> Chinese boats fail to stage scenes of ‘being rammed by Vietnamese ships’>> China deploys 6 warships to protect illegal rig in Vietnam’s waters >> China moves illegal rig again; its vessels ready to ram Vietnamese boats   >> China deploys 2 more warships to Vietnam’s waters Despite the bad weather due to a tropical depression in the East Vietnam Sea, Chinese coast guard ships and tugboats are seeking ways to get as close as possible to Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ships in order to cause collisions.  In many cases, the distance between Chinese and local vessels was only 50-100 meters, the Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Department said. Yesterday the Chinese deployed 116 vessels in the waters, two more than on Thursday. They included six military ships, 42 coast guard ships, 18 tugboats, and 36 fishing boats.

With an overwhelming majority, Chinese vessels were ready to block the way of Vietnam’s marine law enforcement ships whenever local ships entered areas about 8-10 nautical miles from the rig. The foreign vessels were ready to ram or fire water cannons at any of the Vietnamese ships in the water in order to drive them further from the platform. Despite such threats, Vietnamese coast guard and fishery surveillance ships tried to get closer to the rig to demand that it and its guarding ships leave the water. Similarly, Vietnamese fishing ships operating in areas 38-40 nautical miles from the rig also tried to maintain their operations, although they were often threatened by large iron-clad Chinese fishing boats that could ram them to dislodge them from their traditional fishing grounds in Vietnam’s waters.

China placed and maintained the rig in Vietnamese waters on May 1, and the platform’s guarding vessels have since rammed and blasted local vessels with high-powered water, injuring 12 Vietnamese fishery surveillance officers and several fishermen. Such attacks have also damaged at least 24 ships of Vietnam’s marine law enforcement and coast guard forces and a dozen fishing boats. Chinese boat #11209 even rammed and sunk a local fishing boat, DNa 90152, from central Quang Ngai Province, on May 26. The hard hit threw all ten crew members into the sea. Luckily, they were eventually saved by another Vietnamese fishing boat.

Most recently, a large Chinese iron-clad ship, # 45024, hit Vietnamese fishing boat HP 90258 TS seven times in a 3-hour attack in a Vietnamese sea area of northern Hai Phong City’s Co To Island in the Gulf of Tonkin on June 6. The local ship’s captain and its four crew members tried their best to escape the terrible assault and eventually returned to Mat Rong Port in the city. The attack caused damage worth VND300 million (US$14,150) to the local vessel, captain Nguyen Duc Quang said.

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