VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Nguyen Vu Tu yesterday, Aug 17,  paid a consular visit to 122 Vietnamese fishermen who were arrested on May 30 and 12 others who were rescued from a recent storm in Palawan Province.

The diplomat also visited the Chairman of Palawan Province, providing further information on the economic contract between Vietnamese and Filipino companies relating to the 122 Vietnamese fishermen.

He stressed that the Vietnamese fishermen did not deliberately violate the laws and enter the waters of the Philippines, expressing the wish that the Philippine authorities would examine the case in a way that reflected the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries.

The Vietnamese Embassy and the fishermen's families will continue working with relevant Philippine agencies to accelerate the processing of the case so that the fishermen and their seven fishing vessels can return to Viet Nam.

According to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's Consular Department, on May 30, 2011, seven fishing vessels of Binh Thuan Province with 122 fishermen on board were seized by the Philippine Navy about two nautical miles (3.6km) off Tamburok coast of Balabac, in Palawan Province.

The fishermen had planned to go to the Philippines to fish under the economic contract between the Long Hai Long Company of Viet Nam and the Philippines' Premiere International Interfishing Company. The fishing vessels and crews were arrested in the Philippines' territorial waters, since they had not completed necessary legal procedures.

Meanwhile, 12 other fishermen aboard the vessel QNg 90510TS, who were in distress in a storm and rescued by the Philippine Navy on July 27, are completing procedures to return to Viet Nam tomorrow.