Female ship owner refuses to pay ransom after vehicle is unjustly seized

Ca Mau Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, 49 years old, a ship owner in U Minh district whose vessel was seized by foreign forces more than a month ago, resolutely refused to pay ransom despite repeated calls to negotiate a price.

On February 29, Ms. Thuy’s family’s fishing boat, captained by Mr. Trinh Van Nguyen, 40 years old, and 5 others, departed from Kinh Hoi estuary, U Minh district to fish for squid. At around 6:00 a.m. on March 7, she received a call from Mr. Nguyen informing her that a foreign ship was approaching the side of the boat.

"The captain only said a few sentences before the other end of the line hung up," said Ms. Thuy, adding that at that time she checked on her phone (through the cruise monitoring device) and saw that her family's ship was operating in Vietnamese waters.

Ms. Thuy talks about how to determine the location of a fishing boat on her phone through the route monitoring location. This is the basis for her to believe that the boat did not violate the law and did not agree to pay the ransom. Photo: An Minh

Later, over the phone with Mr. Nguyen, Ms. Thuy learned that the approaching ship "came from Cambodia". The people on board asked the Vietnamese crew to sit in front of the cabin, then they removed and confiscated the GPS, fish finder, long-distance radio, two walkie-talkies and some personal belongings.

The group of strangers then steered the fishing boat through Cambodian waters, in the area of ​​Tang Island (about 16 nautical miles, or 28 km, from the Vietnam-Cambodia sea demarcation line). At 1 p.m. the same day, these people asked Mr. Nguyen to call (on their phones) Ms. Thuy, demanding that they transfer 4,000 USD to release the boat.

"Over the phone, a man repeatedly asked me to transfer ransom money for the ship, from 4,000 USD, then lowered it to 2,000 USD, then to 53 million VND," Ms. Hang recounted, saying that her ship did not illegally exploit aquatic resources in the neighboring country's waters. She then reported the incident to the authorities.

Unable to negotiate a price with the ship owner, the group of foreigners continued to hold the crew members. At around 11 p.m. the same day, they asked the Vietnamese crew members to pump them 10 cans of oil (30 liters each), but there was not enough on the ship. After taking the oil, the group of strangers returned the seized machinery and equipment and asked the Vietnamese captain to steer the ship away.

According to Ms. Thuy, at nearly 3 a.m. the next day, the captain steered the ship back to Vietnamese waters. After that, the ship fished normally, and on March 18, it reached shore. "The crew said they were very scared of being arrested, but fortunately the ship had a tracking device installed so they had no grounds to detain it or demand money," Ms. Thuy said, adding that the fishing boat that was arrested had a total investment cost of more than 300 million VND.

According to Ms. Thuy, the crew members said that the ship approached their vehicle, which had the words Cambodia written on its hull. When they got close, two people on the ship carrying guns asked the crew members to sit still, then steered the vehicle back to their country. "When they got to the foreign side, these people did not beat the crew members but only kept them on the ship," Ms. Thuy said, adding that because they had guns, plus the unfamiliar area, the crew members had to comply.

Ms. Thuy's fishing boat docked at Kinh Hoi estuary at the end of March. Photo: Minh Duan

During the verification, the authorities of Ca Mau province determined that when the foreign country seized Ms. Thuy's ship, it was operating in Vietnam's waters. The ship also operated in accordance with its fishing license, when leaving the port it ensured all conditions according to regulations, and the journey monitoring equipment operated normally from the time it went to sea until it returned to shore.

Mr. Pham Quoc Su, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice of Ca Mau province, said that the functional sector unanimously proposed that the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee not punish Ms. Thuy's fishing boat. On the contrary, the department recommended that the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee assign U Minh district to reward the boat owner and crew to encourage the spirit of protecting national sovereignty at sea.

"There are many cases where people have been in similar situations but they have made their own agreements without reporting to the authorities, thus creating a bad precedent. In particular, when Ms. Thuy discovered that the ship was operating within the right area, she did not compromise and proactively reported it to the authorities," said Mr. Su.

According to Mr. Su, in case fishermen violate the fishing area, the host country will send a diplomatic note to the Vietnamese consulate in that country to exercise the right to protect citizens according to international law. "There is no form of calling the fishing boat owner directly to request that they comply with their request, in any case," Mr. Su said.

The Ca Mau government has proposed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs request that Cambodian authorities and countries with historical waters with Vietnam coordinate closely in managing, exploiting, and properly implementing signed agreements; ensuring obligations and interests between the nations and peoples of the two countries.

An Minh

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/nu-chu-tau-khong-nop-tien-chuoc-khi-phuong-tien-vo-co-bi-bat-giu-4734971.html