Adverse weather leaves fishermen stranded on Spratly Islands

They left early this month with 524 crew members on 130 boats for the Spratly Islands off Binh Thuan Province with enough food and water for 17-20 days.

But they unexpectedly came up against adverse weather conditions that did not allow them to fish or return home, Spratly authorities informed the Binh Thuan administration Monday.

Almost a week ago the northeast monsoon arrived, resulting in rough seas off Vietnam’s south-central coast.

The area between Phu Quy and the Spratly Islands 540 km away is expected to remain rough with winds of 62-88kph and waves of up to five meters.

Binh Thuan authorities have asked naval forces on Spratly to provide the stranded fishermen with food.

The Navy’s 4th Regional Command that protects Spratly, Phu Quy Island and the south-central coast assured Tuesday that each fishing boat would be provided with 15kg of rice and 60 liters of fresh water.