Ten days in the sea of Hoang Sa

VietNamNet Bridge – The fishermen who frequent the seas around the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago to earn their living can be seen as soldiers who guard Vietnam’s marine areas. They are living landmarks proving Vietnam’s centuries-old sovereignty over the Hoang Sa sea.

VietNamNet reporter Vu Trung spent ten days in the sea of Hoang Sa on a fishing boat. Before the boat set out, he was advised to throw his camera, laptop and documents into the sea if the boat was chased by Chinese ships and to take care of himself if the boat was captured by Chinese.

This is a somewhat abridged English language version of the VietNamNet special report by Vu Trung.

Going to the Hoang Sa sea

I asked a lot of boat owners before one agreed that I might accompany the crew of an offshore fishing boat to Hoang Sa. Before the trip, the boat owner warned me against possible dangers if this boat is arrested by Chinese.  I didn’t mind; this trip has been my dream for many years. I wished to see Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago once in my life and to discover how our fishermen earn their living in this dangerous sea.

We left Sa Ky port (Quang Ngai province) in the morning of a day in March. On this small boat, with its crew of 12, I was the “13^th sailor.”

“Our boat may be small but our hearts are not small. I only hope that you can endure hardships with us,” said the its owner and captain, ‘TT.’

I understood his meaning. The sea is boundless and nobody can foresee all that may happen.

Many fishermen told me that I was the first person who is not a fishermen to go to the dangerous Hoang Sa sea. Some advised me not join this trip.

In the 50-hour trip to Hoang Sa, I saw the fishermen pray twice for safety to the spirit of the sea, for  they believe that supernatural powers can help them return home safely.

Seventy nautical miles from the mainland, our boat was alone in the vast sea; our actual world reduced to six square meters of living space. The rest of the cabin held our stores of diesel fuel, food and water.

In this trip, I came to understand the hearts of the fishermen, men who were ready to challenge dangers to protect their teammates. Captain TT said: “We would be unable to overcome difficulties and dangers in this ocean if we did not have love and unity”.

On the second night, our boat passed Phu Lam and Tri Ton islands, parts of the Hoang Sa archipelago that have been controlled by Chinese for 36 years.

“Our boats have to pass these islands at night to avoid Chinese patrol boats. Each time we pass these islands, we feel hurt. It is our land but we can’t look at it,” said NVA, our helmsman.

Passing through the “sea of death”

Fishermen call the waters from Phu Lam to Hai Tru, Tri Ton and Bom Bay islands the ‘sea of death’ because for over ten years, hundreds of fishing boats from Quang Nam and Quang Ngai fishing villages have been stopped and robbed by Chinese ships. Many people have died or been injured.

Before our ship passed Phu Lam island, Captain TT asked me to put my camera and laptop into a plastic bag and hide it in the hold in case Chinese boats should detect and chase our boat.

“If we are unlucky and are captured by Chinese ships, you’ll have to throw your equipment to the sea if you value your life,” the captain said.

During the ten dark hours we passed through this area, all lamps on the boat were extinguished. Captain TT was tensely alert. He explained that with 22 years of experience fishing in this area, he knows it intimately and he can recognize other ships by their lamplight. If he detects Chinese boats while they are still far away, his boat can escape.

In the past ten years, hundreds of Vietnamese fishing boats have been arrested by Chinese patrol boats and have had to pay ransom to return home. Sometimes our sailors have been beaten and robbed.

“China doesn’t want Vietnamese fishermen here regularly. But this is the maritime territory of Vietnam so it is absurd for Chinese to arrest Vietnamese ships and demand ransom,” said Captain TT.

“This is our sea, but it is held by China,” he added. “Ten years ago, this area was filled with fishing boats from countries in the region but China has strengthened its patrols and control in recent years”.

Another captain named Truong Minh Quang told me that the current difficult situation has endured for five years.

At one am on the third day, our boat had passed through the “sea of death.”  Captain TT pointed out Bom Bay island.  There are no Chinese soldiers stationed on this island but they patrol very often and arrest Vietnamese fishing boats.

However, the fishing grounds around Bom Bay island are quite safe for Vietnamese fishermen at night.

Captain TT decided to put out nets around two nautical miles offshore from Bom Bay island. Helmsman TVA prepared equipment for the first night of fishing in the Hoang Sa sea. The captain divided the crews into two groups, each group would work for two hours. The boat would have to leave this site before 5 am to avoid Chinese patrol ships.

One day before our boat arrived in the sea off Bom Bay Island, I made contact with another captain, Nguyen Thanh Tuan, via two-way radio. Captain Tuan’s boat was catching fish in this area already. Tuan agreed to let me transfer to his boat when the two ships met each other near Bom Bay.

Tuan’s boat is much bigger than the one that carried me to Hoang Sa. Tuan said he had just returned to Hoang Sa after rescuing 17 fishermen from Ly Son Island (Quang Ngai) whose boat was rammed and sunk by a strange boat on March 9.

Tuan said this was his second trip to Hoang Sa since the New Year (Tết) holiday. His vessel had 12 sailors, all members of Tuan’s extended family.

“There’s nothing special we can tell you about our job. Stay with us for several days, and you will understand it,” Tuan said. “We face dangers from Chinese ships all the time but we still consider Hoang Sa to be our home so we don’t abandon it. Each Vietnamese fishing boat in Hoang Sa is like a living landmark,” he added.

Tuan spends up to eight months each year in Hoang Sa sea. He has experienced many storms and was arrested by the Chinese but he returned home safely.

“We only work at night, and run to international waters to escape Chinese patrol boats,” he said.

“Even death can’t tear us away”

Every fisherman I met during my trip to Hoang Sa told me their love for it. “I can’t live far from the sea. Hoang Sa sea is my blood and flesh, because it supports my family,” said sailor Truong Van Tin on captain Tuan’s boat.

“Sometimes I have thought that I should sell my boat and seek another job but that thought was fleeting. Despite dangers, I’m determined to live with Hoang Sa,” said yet another captain, Tieu Viet Hong.

All the fishing boat owners I met confirmed that just as they and their fathers have lived with Hoang Sa sea, so their children will live with the sea.

Captain Nguyen Thanh Tuan said that he is the 7^th generation in his family who has fished in Hoang Sa.

“We face terrible dangers, but even the death can’t tear us away from Hoang Sa because this is our nation’s territory, this is where our ancestors bled to explore it.  We would betray our ancestors if we were to leave it,” explained a captain named Truong Minh Quang.

Vu Trung