The crew of a fishing boat from Quang Nam Province claims it was chased and damaged by what it thinks was a Chinese ship while they were working near the Paracel Islands.
Fishing boat chased and damaged
Captain Nguyen Thuong said while they were returning home on April 18, they noticed a ship following. They tried to avoid the ship but upon reaching latitude 15.29N, longitude 110.40E, the ship caught up and rammed into them.
"Luckily, they hit us near the bow of the ship so we didn't sink," he said. "That area has many Chinese fishing ships, I saw them several times before. That's why when I saw a ship behind, I thought it was a regular Chinese fishing ship and I tried to avoid any dispute. I was surprised when I was attacked."
Because of the darkness, Thuong could not see the ship numbers. According to Thuong, the ship was black and about 30m long. The damage to Thuong's boat is estimated at VND60m. He reported the case to local authorities and Ky Ha Border Post but was worried as another boat from their commune was attacked just a month ago.