Solutions to overcome the sea accidents

Author Vu Hai Nam
Co-Author Dong Van Huong, Phan Thi Thuy Hoa
DOI

Country : Vietnam
Subject : Transport

Keywords : sea accidents, solution, maritime industry

Abstract

The year 2017 led to an increasing number of maritime mishaps involving fishing and cargo ships in the seas around Vietnam, highlighting the perils seafarers face. According to the Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Center Region III, in charge of the sea area from south of Ninh Thuan Province to Kien Giang Province, in 2017 the agency received 183 distress signals, 1.5 times more than in 2016. The agency had to dispatch rescue ships 37 times to support and rescue a total of 537 people, an increase of more than three times year on year. Despite these efforts, 96 seafarers died or are still missing. The situation was made worse by poor quality of fishing vessels that could not withstand rough waves or gusts of wind. During Typhoon Tembin that hit the southern provinces in late December, the center rescued 10 fishing ships in the seas of Khanh Hoa and Binh Dinh provinces with either their engines broken or structures broken by the pounding sea. Of the 49 vessels that sank in the southern sea last year, 46 were fishing boats - three time more than the previous year. Advocating the Government’s strategy to develop offshore fishing, many fishermen have switched from near-shore fishing to off-shore fishing. However, a large number of fishing vessels were still traditional small, wood-clad vessels, raising the risk of accidents when they are fishing thousands of nautical miles offshore. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, in 2017, more than 49 per cent of fishing vessels in the province switched to offshore fishing. The transformation to large steel-clad or new-material ships suitable for offshore fishing was lower than expected, despite strong support from the government policy with the birth of Decree 67 in 2014. Until 2017, three years after the decree was issued, only 63 ships were completed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. A major reason was that fishing ports and ship sanctuaries have become seriously overloaded, so not many fishermen dare to invest in new vessels.

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