A fleet of civil defence ships belonging to the Con Dao Fishing Company was established over 20 years ago with the double function of fishing in the East Sea and defending the country’s territorial waters from the encroachment of foreign ships.
>> Part 1: East Sea: VN fishermen's home away from home
>> Part 3: Unite to survive
>> Part 4: Con Co island, fishermen's home in the high seas
During the period of its existence, the flotilla also carried out numerous rescue operations for fishing boats in distress at sea.
The flotilla was set up in 1989 right after Con Dao Fishing Company (Coimex) of the southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province was founded.
At the time, the company had only 3 fishing vessels employing merely 60 fishermen, who also assumed the role of marine police, said Le Van Khang, 62, who was then Coimex director.
After a few years in operation, Coimex expanded its business, owning 32 fishing vessels and employing thousands of employees.
The fleet was then named Ben Dam (Dam quay) after a place on Con Dao island, 97 nautical miles from Ba Ria Vung Tau.
To perform the assigned duty of protecting the country’s national sovereignty by warning and arresting foreign intruders, the fleet was equipped not only with high-voltage speakers and warning tapes in Vietnamese, Chinese and English languages, but also with weapons.
Whenever foreign ships were discovered trespassing on Vietnamese territorial waters, all the member vessels of the fleet halted their fishing activities, informed one another of the intruders and joined in an operation to drive them out, recalled Tu The An, who was then Coimex vice director.
Sometimes, they seized foreign ships and handed them over to the Navy, he added. Altogether the fleet had detected and driven out hundreds of foreign ships.
An said he could never forget an incident in which two ships of the company’s fleet discovered and blended into a foreign fleet of ten and then in a surprise move, arrested six of them within five hours.
As for Khang, still indelibly imprinted on his memory is a bloody case that involved his two ships chasing eight foreign ships entering Vietnam’s waters. To make their escape, the foreign ships opened fire and injured three Vietnamese men.
However, Khang and his men still managed to catch one of the eight foreign ships and handed it over to the Vietnamese authorities.
Members of the Con Dao civil defence flotilla of Con Dao Fishing Company in 1990s. Le Van Khang is the fourth from left
Besides confronting the intruding ships, the fleet also served as a rescue squad at sea, especially during strong storms.
Vietnamese fishermen across the nation said they felt safe whenever running into the Ben Dam fleet at sea as their food or oil shortage would be relieved, their broken engines fixed, and valuable information would be shared with them where to make a large catch of fish, Khang said.
During an especially strong storm in 1997, the Ben Dam fleet saved and rescued almost 100 fishermen in distress. Despite strong winds and dangerous conditions, Khang said he decided to dispatch over 20 ships of his fleet to go on a rescue mission.
Using the Ben Dam fleet of Ba Ria Vung Tau as the model, authorities in Kien Giang, Minh Hai, and Hau Giang also set up similar fleets to keep watch over the long stretches of Vietnam’s territorial waters from the northern (Tonkin) gulf to Ca Mau cape.
In 2002, thirteen years after its establishment, the fleet ceased its operations and its staff was transferred to the military command units of state-owned firms.
“Before we have the latest equipment to watch over our waters, the Ben Dam fishing fleet successfully completed their ‘duo’ mission of defending the country’s waters and informing the authorities of foreign violations,” Khang said proudly.
They are part of Vietnam’s history of defending the nation’s sovereignty.
Print
