Prompt support for fishermen when vessel monitoring devices lose connection

Duc Trach Commune in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, is home to the province's large offshore fishing fleet. After a period of disconnection between fishing vessels and their vessel monitoring system (VMS), hundreds of fishing boats have struggled to prove that the loss of connection was due to objective reasons, to avoid penalties. Mrs. Ho Thi Hoa, Chairwoman of Duc Trach Commune People's Committee, stated: “The local government has assisted fishermen by compiling a list and requesting VNPT Quang Binh to verify each specific fishing vessel. However, the fishermen have found this process to be time-consuming and troublesome.”

Fishermen are facing difficulties...

According to the Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-Department, the province has installed and put into operation 1,119 vessel monitoring systems (VMS) out of the 1,143 fishing vessels required to have them, reaching a coverage rate of 97.9%. Among these, VNPT Quang Binh installed 797 devices, Vishipel installed 270, Binh Anh installed 28, Viettel installed 23, and Bach Khoa installed 1 device. The remaining 24 fishing vessels have not installed the VMS due to being inactive and docked.

VNPT Quang Binh alone has installed 797 devices, accounting for 71% of the total VMS installations on fishing vessels across the province. Specifically, 160 devices were installed in Dong Hoi City, 195 in Bo Trach District, 251 in Ba Don Town, 190 in Quang Trach District, and 1 in Quang Ninh District.

Mr. Le Ngoc Linh, Director of the Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-Department, noted that a satellite issue (VNPT VSS) that occurred from April 15, 2024, has affected over 700 vessels equipped with VNPT’s VMS across the province. “More than 40 vessels lost connection for over 10 days, 303 vessels lost connection for over 6 hours, and more than 370 requests for policy support were impacted due to non-compliance with VMS data as per the regulations in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP,” said Mr. Le Ngoc Linh.

To ensure legal compliance when heading out to sea, many vessel owners have spent a significant amount of money to install additional VMS devices from other service providers like Vishipel and Viettel, which are currently operating well. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, a vessel owner from Bao Ninh Commune, spent nearly 30 million VND to install an additional VMS device for safety at sea, stating, "Despite the difficulties, we cannot just go out to sea relying on luck with the service provider. Safety for each trip is paramount. I installed the extra device to ensure continuous 24/7 VMS operation when engaging in fishing activities at sea."

Currently, vessel owners are only using the VX1.700 device installed on older vessels to report their position to the shore station when they lose connection, with no other equipment available to report their position back to shore.

According to many fishermen, the responsibilities of the service providers for the vessel monitoring systems (VMS) under civil contracts have not been clearly demonstrated. Fisherman Nguyen Van Thanh (Duc Trach Commune, Bo Trach District) stated, "So far, fishermen have not received any support or compensation for damages caused by connection failures due to the service provider."

It has been over three months since the VNPT satellite issue occurred, and it has not been fully resolved. As a result, there are still cases where fishing vessels lose connection for six hours without reporting back to shore or lose connection for more than 10 days without returning to shore for repairs.

Le Ngoc Linh acknowledged, "Notifying and urging vessels to return to shore when they violate boundaries or lose connection at sea for more than six hours and 10 days after being detected is very challenging, as communication can only be made through HF radios, with no other equipment available. If the vessel owner does not set the correct HF frequency for communication with the Fisheries Sub-department's shore station, it becomes even more difficult."

How to support fishermen?

According to the Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-Department, the disconnection of fishing vessel monitoring equipment (GSHT) while operating at sea not only puts fishermen in a difficult position but also burdens government agencies. Fisherman Nguyen Huu Ai from Duc Trach Commune, Bo Trach District, shared, “After each fishing trip, we have to submit a report to the local authorities and send it to VNPT Quang Binh for verification of the disconnection being due to objective reasons before it is accepted by the management agencies.”

The Fisheries Sub-Department had to intensify coordination with satellite phone service providers to extract data from April 15, 2024, to accurately handle violations and distinguish vessels with objective reasons for disconnection. “We have also proposed to the Directorate of Fisheries to allow the use of location data extracted from satellite phones as the reported position data of fishing vessels to the state management agency at the provincial level where the vessels are registered for record-keeping purposes,” Mr. Linh added. 

According to Mr. Linh's proposal, the service provider should urgently offer fishermen alternative maritime communication devices (such as long-range HF communication systems or coastal station messaging systems) to report the location of fishing vessels, ensuring the required frequency of every 6 hours as mandated.

Facing the reality that hundreds of fishermen's records with disconnected fishing vessels are awaiting verification from VNPT Quang Binh to justify objective reasons, the Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-Department has strengthened its personnel for monitoring, operating, and processing data on the vessel monitoring system to comply with regulations. The department has organized a 24/7 monitoring system to promptly inform relevant authorities about fishing vessels crossing maritime boundaries or vessels that have lost connection for 10 days without returning to shore as required. They also receive location reports from fishermen via messages when a disconnection of the vessel monitoring equipment occurs.

Additionally, the Sub-Department is working with MECOM Marine Equipment JSC to upgrade software and provide additional VX1.700 devices at the Sub-Department's terminals and for vessel owners in need of replacement. "Given the satellite signal loss affecting compliance with vessel monitoring regulations during sea operations, the Quang Binh Fisheries Sub-Department hopes that fishermen will regularly monitor the operation of their vessel's position-reporting equipment, coordinate smoothly with network providers and fisheries management agencies to adhere to the legal requirements for fishing, and help in lifting the European Commission's yellow card on IUU fishing," Mr. Linh stated.

During the inspection process, many fishing vessels are being verified and penalized by authorities for losing VMS device connections while operating at sea. Since the beginning of the year, Quang Binh has processed three cases of fishing vessels with VNPT's VMS devices losing connection for more than 10 days without returning to shore, with a total administrative fine of 75 million VND.