Vietnamese law enforcement vessels on May 23 were chased by numerous large Chinese ships when they were about 8.5 nautical miles from China’s drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981, which is illegaly standing in Vietnam’s waters.
Vietnam News Agency reporters present at the site said that while performing its mission in the morning of May 23, Vietnam’s coast guard ship 8003 detected a large number of Chinese ships surrounding the rig.
They included 30 ships, six cargo vessels, 32 fishing boats and three tugs.
Since the beginning of May, China illegally dispatched the rig, as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships and aircraft, to Vietnamese waters and positioned the rig at a location 80 miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons into Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance ships which are carrying out their law enforcement missions in the country’s waters, leaving many Vietnamese ships damaged and officers injured.-vna
Vietnam News Agency reporters present at the site said that while performing its mission in the morning of May 23, Vietnam’s coast guard ship 8003 detected a large number of Chinese ships surrounding the rig.
They included 30 ships, six cargo vessels, 32 fishing boats and three tugs.
Since the beginning of May, China illegally dispatched the rig, as well as a large fleet of armed vessels, military ships and aircraft, to Vietnamese waters and positioned the rig at a location 80 miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons into Vietnamese coast guard and fisheries surveillance ships which are carrying out their law enforcement missions in the country’s waters, leaving many Vietnamese ships damaged and officers injured.-vna
