Kien Giang forms an investigation on vessels losing connection

Many fishing vessels lost VMS connections

On August 21st, in Rach Gia City, the Steering Committee for Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing of Kien Giang province held a conference to announce the establishment of an Investigation Team to determine the cause of the loss of VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) signal connections from fishing vessels in Kien Giang province.

The investigation team is led by Colonel Dao Hai Dang, Deputy Director of the Kien Giang Provincial Police, and Deputy Head of the IUU Steering Committee of Kien Giang province.

According to the Kien Giang Provincial Fishing Vessel Registration Center, the province currently has 3,626 fishing vessels with a maximum length of 15 meters or more (offshore fishing vessels), which are required to install VMS equipment. To date, 3,605 fishing vessels have installed VMS devices provided by nine companies, while 21 fishing vessels have not yet installed VMS equipment due to being docked.

However, during operations at sea, many fishing vessels have experienced the loss of VMS signal connections, reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of state management and complicating efforts to combat IUU fishing.

Specifically, from May 2020 to May 2024, the Kien Giang Provincial Fishing Vessel Registration Center made 97,500 calls to 3,400 fishing vessels that had lost VMS signal connections at sea. As a result, 92,253 connections were re-established on 1,563 vessels, reconnecting them to the monitoring system. Additionally, 977 notices were issued regarding 5,247 disconnections involving 1,837 vessels.

The authorities have intensified efforts to combat violations related to the VMS equipment on Kien Giang’s fishing vessels. Specifically, from the beginning of 2024 until now, the Command of Coast Guard Region 4 detected 182 instances of fishing vessels losing VMS connections for over 10 days, 355 instances of disconnection lasting 7-9 days, and 15,232 instances of disconnection lasting over 6 hours. They identified, inspected, temporarily detained, verified, and handed over 11 cases involving 20 fishing vessels to the Kien Giang Provincial Police’s Investigation Department for further investigation and handling. Among these, two cases involved two vessels carrying 17 VMS devices belonging to other fishing vessels, and nine cases involved 18 fishing vessels that had removed or disabled the VMS equipment.

Strict control over VMS equipment

There are various reasons for fishing vessels losing VMS connections. These include VMS equipment malfunctioning, unstable operations, damage, solar-powered devices failing to work in cloudy or rainy weather, system provider issues, and satellite errors leading to disconnections... However, in many cases, vessel owners and captains intentionally turned off or removed VMS devices to avoid monitoring by authorities and engage in illegal fishing activities.

A vessel monitoring device that had been deliberately disabled by fishermen, leading to a loss of signal connection, was discovered and handled by the authorities. Photo: Trung Chanh.

Colonel Dao Hai Dang stated that the task of the investigation team is to clarify the causes and investigate cases related to VMS devices that show signs of criminal activity. The team will monitor the situation, detect incidents, organize inspections, and develop plans to verify the reasons for the loss of VMS signal connections on fishing vessels in Kien Giang Province. They will assess and recommend transferring cases to state authorities for handling in accordance with the law, and propose effective solutions to prevent further loss of VMS signal connections on Kien Giang’s fishing vessels.

The Kien Giang Department of Information and Communications will enhance cooperation with VMS management agencies and law enforcement to provide a basis for verifying and handling violations related to VMS devices.

The Kien Giang Provincial Border Guard Command needs to strictly control fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, stations, and checkpoints to inspect the condition of VMS devices and prevent vessels from disabling or removing the devices after completing departure procedures.

Inspections, verifications, and handovers have been conducted for 9 cases involving 20 fishing vessels related to VMS violations. The Chairman of the Kien Giang Provincial People's Committee has issued administrative fines totalling more than 11.7 billion VND and confiscated two fishing vessels.