This is the first joint patrol in 2023 and the sixth between the Vietnamese and Chinese coast guard forces in this area.
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Major General Le Quang Dao presenting gift to Ships 8004 and 8003 |
The patrol will take place from April 11 to 13, during which the two sides will patrol 13 locations in the waters adjacent to the Gulf of Tonkin delimitation line with a distance of 255.5 nautical miles, from the Northeast of Con Co Island (Vietnam) to the Southeast of Tran Island (Vietnam).
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Major General Le Quang Dao encouraging troops |
The patrol is to contribute to the effective implementation of international laws, especially the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 and the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Territorial Seas, Exclusive Economic Zones and Continental Shelves in the Tonkin Gulf signed between Vietnam and China on December 25, 2000.
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The delegation is ready for the patrol. |
It also aims to maintain order and security in the Gulf of Tonkin, contributing to strengthening cooperation and mutual understanding between the coast guard forces of the two countries, conserving and sustainably exploiting marine resources and creatures, disseminating and educating laws to fishermen when working at sea, and enhancing troops’ competence and experience in carrying out missions.
The patrol also helps ensure that fishermen's activities can take place normally in the time when the two countries hold negotiations to determine the next cooperation contents after the Agreement on Fishery Cooperation expired on June 30, 2020.
Since the beginning of this year, the Coast Guard Region 1 Command has well cooperated with other forces to patrol, manage, and protect sea and islands and supervise fishing activities in the Gulf of Tonkin, contributing to the management and sustainable exploitation of marine resources.
However, the protection, management, and supervision of fishing activities in the Gulf of Tonkin have faced numerous challenges due to poor awareness of law observation of some fishermen. In addition, the fact that some Vietnamese trawlers have not installed vessel monitoring system (VMS) as regulated in the Government’s Decree 26/2019/NĐ-CP on March 8, 2019 and violations in fishing activities of trawlers of the two countries have affected the efficiency of the work.
Translated by Tran Hoai