The current weather conditions is not safe for fishermen and fishing boats return homeland, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nguyen Phuong Nga told reporters at a Wednesday press conference on the 17th ASEAN Summit and related events to take place in Ha Noi from October 28-30.
The spokeswoman confirmed that Vietnamese authorities were working with the Chinese side to make full preparation to bring nine fishermen to home safely as soon as possible.
China released a Vietnamese fishing boat and its crew Monday after seizing them in Vietnamese waters a month ago.
Boat QNg 66478TS had failed to arrive home by Tuesday morning from the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago. China claimed that it released the boat last Saturday and that the boat left for home at 1pm Monday.
After being released, the boat QNg 66478TS had problems on the way back and lost contact with the mainland. The Chinese side found the boat QNg 66478TS and its nine fishermen and brought them back to Tru Cau Island nearby Hoang Sa.
The local authorities Sunday morning kept communicating with the Hoang Sa archipelago but received busy telecom signals. They contacted a Chinese-spoke man by late morning. He said that vessels QNg TS-66478 and its nine members were staying at his place, avoiding the storm.
He said a new storm set to arrive in next few days, posing danger to the fishermen.
There were no communication means nearby the vessels QNg TS-66478 and its crew, the man said over the phone.
He added the nine fishermen were in good health condition. They would stay here and rest until the storm passed.
Vietnam has been involved in a maritime dispute with China over the Hoang Sa which that country occupied in 1974.
The two nations, together with Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, claim all or part of the archipelago.
Also, Vietnam has accused China of repeatedly detaining Vietnamese fishing boats near the islands over the past years. Last year, it arrested 17 fishing boats and 210 fishermen from Vietnam, with all the fishermen and 13 boats having been later released.
The East Sea is the shortest route between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and has some of the world's busiest shipping lanes through which more than half of the global oil tanker traffic passes.
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