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Chinese ships launch waves of attacks against Vietnamese vessels

VGP – On June 1, Chinese ships opened three waves of attacks against Vietnamese vessels, according to reporter Minh Quang from Tuoi Tre Online.

June 02, 2014 4:12 PM GMT+7

Chinese coast guard ship 46105 is firing water cannon at Viet Nam Coast Guard boat CSB 2016 right in Viet Nam's exclusive economic zone - Photo: Tuoi Tre Online

The first attack occurred at 4:00PM on June 1, when Chinese coast guard ship 46105 sped up and crashed into Viet Nam Coast Guard boat CSB 2016.

The local ship tilted to one side due to the hard hit, and it had to try its best to avoid subsequent rammings by the foreign ship that was following it.

The attack smashed the right side of the Vietnamese boat in four places, through which water flowed into the vessel. It also broke the water pump hose, two air ventilation pipes, and some other tools. 

The crewmembers repaired it later the same day so that it could continue operating safely, said Senior Lieutenant Quan Dinh Duong, the captain of CSB 2016.

Earlier that day, at 11:30AM, a Chinese vessel fired its water cannon at Vietnamese fisheries surveillance ship 635 while two other Chinese ships prevented a Viet Nam Coast Guard craft from protecting the attacked boat.

Vessel 635 tried to escape the assault after being blasted with high-pressure water cannons for five minutes.

Another attack occurred at 6:00AM when a dozen Chinese vessels rushed to Vietnamese ships that had entered an area 8.5 nautical miles from the rig.

The Chinese side used 2-3 vessels to threaten a local ship.

Twenty minutes later, Chinese coast guard boat 32 began to fire its water cannon at Vietnamese fisheries surveillance vessel 769 at a distance of 100 meters.

While the local ship was running away, Chinese coast guard boat 46001 chased it and attempted to crash into the Vietnamese ship.

After that, about 20 Chinese vessels launched similar assaults and threatening acts against Vietnamese ships for more than an hour before they retreated to an area about eight nautical miles from the drilling platform./.

By Ngoc Van