Fishermen from Quang Ngai Province have claimed they were rammed multiple times by a Chinese ship on January 1, leading to the boat starting to sink.
Fishermen claimed they were rammed by a Chinese ship
Captain of the 10 crew fishing boat Huynh Thach said, "At around 12pm, we were fishing 70 nautical miles from Con Co Island. Then suddenly, a Chinese ship headed straight for us and rammed our boat multiple times until our boat started to sink. I quickly called for help from nearby fishing boats as soon as the attack stopped."
Thach went on to say that the Chinese vessel looked like a fishing ship and had a registration number 00098880. The damage was estimated at VND3.5bn (USD159,000).
The 10 fishermen were rescued. Other fishing boats and the coast guards are trying to salvage the sunken boat.
There were several attacks by Chinese vessels last year. Le Quang Thich, vice chairman of Quang Ngai Province said 23 local fishing boats had been attacked by Chinese vessels in the first six months of 2015 and there was a rise in intrusions by Chinese coastguard and fishing boats. Some Chinese ships came within 16 nautical miles of Ly Son Island.