VietNamNet Bridge – Major General Pham Hoai Giang, Chief of the Agency for Search and Rescue, said on July 25 that this force would be equipped with big ships to carry ocean voyages.

Giang, who is also Chief of the Office of the National Committee for Search and Rescue, said maritime search and rescue is the most complicated field.

He said that Vietnamese fishing boats are usually small and rudimentary, which cannot sustain harsh conditions. It is difficult to rescue these ships if they enter “sensitive” waters which are in disputes.

He added that in dangerous circumstances, not all fishermen obeyed warnings giving by competent agencies. Many boats even turned off their communication equipment to hide their positions. Meanwhile, means of search and rescue of Vietnam are not modern and powerful enough to operate far from the shore.

“The search and rescue activities need to be civilianized. The Government has assigned the National Committee for Search and Rescue and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work on it. The rescue forces will be equipped with big vessels to better do their job,” Giang said.



The general said that through search and rescue activities, Vietnam has integrated in the world community. Many countries that do not have cooperation ties with Vietnam have better understand the country via search and rescue activities.

Major General Nguyen Kim Son, Political Chairman of the General Staff, said that the Agency for Search and Rescue is a combatant force in the peacetime. To do its mission, it is important to mobilize on-the-spot forces well.

In the first half of 2012, nearly 19,600 accidents caused by natural calamities and incidents occurred in Vietnam, killing 5,090 people, injuring over 20,000 others and over 100 others went missing. Material losses are worth a hundred million USD.

In the last five years, 19 soldiers sacrificed when they helped people in natural calamities.

Compiled by Minh Anh