On Monday afternoon, fishing boat DNa 90152 from Da Nang’s Thanh Khe District was brought onto dry land by workers from Da Nang’s Bac My An Shipbuilding Cooperative for repair.  The boat had been damaged and capsized by a steel-hulled Chinese ship on 26 May whilst it was legally operating in the traditional Hoang Sa fishing grounds.

At dawn on Monday, the shipyard workers started towing the boat in towards land.  Two thirds of its hull was still submerged under the water so, to avoid more damage, 50 large floats were used to raise the boat.  At 11pm, the hull of the boat had emerged from the water surface, about 15 metres from land, and 2 hours later the water had been pumped out.

The fishing boat being towed to land

A large hole was evident in the port side of the boat, about 2 metres from the stern, which had been caused by the aggressive attack by the Chinese ship.  There were also many scratches on the starboard side of the boat.  The fishing nets on board were torn to shreds, whilst the cabin and rooms for the crew were seriously damaged.  In addition, electrical wiring and batteries were wrecked, and the deck was filled with mud.  The engine was severely damaged due to submergence in the salty water.

The owner of the fishing boat, Mrs Huynh Thi Nhu Hoa, expressed her deep sorrow at the great loss caused by the actions of the Chinese.  She said that her boat, which had been worth around 5 billion VND, is unlikely to be used again because of superstition.  For this reason, her family will have to build a new boat for future trips to the Hoang Sa fishing grounds.  Mrs Hoa added that her family will sue the Chinese side for its intentional attack, and she will ask China to compensate her for the damage to her boat.

(See our Photos section for more images of the damaged boat)