Fishing vessels at Ly Son Port in Quang Ngai Province.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a diplomatic note requesting China release a Vietnamese fishing boat and 12 fishermen they seized on Sunday, an official said Friday.

China’s actions have infringed Vietnam’s sovereignty and jurisdiction on the East Sea, he said.

Dung also said two of the three boats had returned to Vietnam safely with 25 fishermen on Thursday and relevant Vietnamese authorities are requesting China release the rest and not intervene in normal activities of Vietnamese fishermen on Vietnam’s seas.

The Chinese have detained one of the vessels and four members from each of the three originally detained, including the captains of all three vessels.

Nguyen Du, chairman of An Hai Commune People’s Committee, said all three fishing boats were seized in the seas off the Hoang Sa Archipelago as they were seeking refuge from a storm on the East Sea.

Two fishing vessels, QNg-6364 TS and QNg-6597 TS, each with 12 people on board, were both seized at 10 a.m. on June 16 at latitude 16.40 degrees North and longitude 112.58 degrees East. The third boat, QNg-6517 TS with 13 people on board, was seized at 1 p.m. a day later at latitude 16.40 North and longitude of 112.45 East.

Fisherman Duong Tan, who was on board the QNg-6364 TS, said the wind had turned stronger and captain Bui Van Thue began to search for a safe place to take shelter from the storm.

The fishing boat was about 15 nautical miles from Linh Con Island when Chinese ship 309 caught them after a two-or three-hour chase, he said.

Tan said they didn’t understand what the Chinese were saying before a translator said they had violated fishing laws of China.

Nguyen Tam, a fisherman on QNg6517 TS, said he was still upset after being released.

He said the boat was also looking for a safe place to avoid a storm when a Chinese fishing patrol ship seized them.

The patrol ship towed the boat at high speed and the fishing vessel was damaged, and water flooded the engine, he added.

“They took us to an island and forced us into a room,” he said. “Captain Nguyen Chi Thanh was told to sign a document saying each boat was fined 70,000 yuan (around US$10,240).”

Tam also said he was concerned for the life of captain Nguyen Chi Thanh under detainment because he suffers from a serious illness.

Meanwhile, relatives of the detained fishermen in Quang Ngai Province’s Ly Son Island district are worried for them. They said the fishermen would only be released if the fines, worth about VND540 million ($30,700), are paid within 10 days.

The relatives say they cannot afford to pay the fines.

Captain Thanh’s wife, Pham Thi Be, said, “We saved money from years of work and borrowed more to buy a fishing vessel. Now both my husband and the boat are seized.”

“The debt is still there and I can’t find money for my husband’s return,” she added.

Du said most of the detained fishermen were from poor families who already struggle to eke out a living.

It was hard for them to find such a large sum of money to pay the fines, he said.

He also said An Hai Commune People’s Committee had sent documents to central and provincial authorities asking for help in getting boats and the fishermen back.

Fisherman Duong Van Tho, one of those released, said all boat owners, captains and fishermen are now fearful of getting arrested when they head out to sea.

“What is the use of a strong capacity vessel? It cannot be used for fishing near the shore,” he said.

Quang Ngai Province People’s Committee Friday held an urgent meeting to discuss the issue and get the boats and fishermen released. However no further information was made available about the meeting.

Source: TN, VNA