Da Nang's Border Guard Force found 264 arrivals of Chinese ships violating the Viet Nam's sea sovereignty in 2015, Colonel Le Van Phuc, the force's commander, said in a year-end meeting yesterday.

A Chinese fishing boat violates Viet Nam's sea sovereignty. Da Nang's Border Guard Force found 264 arrivals of Chinese ships violating the Viet Nam's sea sovereignty in 2015. — Photo thanhnien.com.vn

Phuc said the force had discovered 207 vessels from China infringing Viet Nam's sea area and illegally fishing deeply into the north-east area of Da Nang's Son Tra peninsula from 45 to 50 nautical miles.

He said 57 Chinese executive ships did reconnoitre at oil blocks number 116, 144 and 145 in Viet Nam's sea sovereignty.

He added military ships and legal enforcement ships of China intentionally chased Vietnamese fishing ships away from Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands of Viet Nam.

At the meeting yesterday, Phuc also said China often sustained operation of military and legal enforcement ships, and air planes to chase and capture Vietnamese fishing ships in the sea of Viet Nam.

The colonel said military and legal enforcement (Coast Guard) ships of China even blocked all rescue action of Vietnamese maritime rescue ships in providing rescue service for Vietnamese fishing ships in the sea of Viet Nam.

He said China sped up illegal large-scale construction and the transformation of islands and reefs in Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands of Viet Nam with an intention of building up an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the sea of Viet Nam.

He also said Chinese ships often illegally fished in the sea of Viet Nam, or sent scout ships in disguise as fishing vessels to track Viet Nam's territorial sea.

At the meeting, the city's Border Guard Force reported that there were 64 incidents in the sea in 2015, of which six ships were sunk and 10 were collided with.

The report said six fishermen died from accidents or drowned while working at sea.

Last week, a fishing vessel from Quang Ngai Province was hit by an unidentified ship in the sea of Quang Tri Province of Viet Nam.

In 2014, a fishing trawler DNa TS 90152 from Da Nang was rammed by Chinese ships in Vietnamese waters off the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.

VNS