South East Asia Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Miragedriver said:

I have always liked the look of this corvette. Very sharp looking a good addition to Phillippines Navy.

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** The procurement of the Vietnam FRS in 2015 **

The Vietnam Prime Minister has approved the procurement of 4 new modified DN-2000 class OPVs for the Vietnam Fishery Resources Surveillance (FRS). The budget would cost around 200 million USD, which put each ship at roughly 50 million USD. Also, there would be 15 medium size patrol ships join the fleet of the Vietnam FRS in 2015. These ships would greatly enhance the capabilities of the Vietnam FRS in protecting and patrolling the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Vietnam.

The PM also approves a project which will replace 3000 wood hull fishing vessels by brand new steel hull vessels, out of the total of 130 thousand fishing vessels. The budget for these first 3000 vessels would cost around 500 million USD.

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ManilaBoy45 said:

South Korea to Transfer Pohang Class Corvette to the PHL Navy Before End of 2014

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5 June 2014 –South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang-jin told Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin at a meeting in Seoul last May 30 that the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) will decommission a Pohang-class corvette (PCC) by yearend for donation to the Philippine Navy, yet another sign of the two countries’ growing defense cooperation, according to the Philippine Embassy in Seoul.Secretary Gazmin said the warship follows the acceptance by the Armed Forces of the Philippines of an earlier ROKN donation of a landing craft utility and 16 rubber boats.

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Troops from Japan, the United States, and Australia have arrived in Vietnam for defense exchanges with local forces.

The transport vessel Kunisaki of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force arrived at a port in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang on Friday.

It carried about 190 personnel from the Self-Defense Forces, as well as 140 troops from the US and Australia.

The visit is part of the US-led annual humanitarian mission called Pacific Partnership, which aims to promote defense exchanges with Southeast Asian nations.

The troops from the 3 countries began 10 days of activities with their Vietnamese counterparts, including medical services and sports, to strengthen cooperation.

The exchanges come amid rising tension between Vietnam and China over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

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World Maritime News said:

Pirates have stolen around 700,000 litres of diesel fuel (worth approximately $434,000) from the ‘MT Ai Maru’ oil tanker some 31 nautical miles east of Tanjung Sedili off Johor, Malaysia, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said on Sunday. The vessel was en route from Singapore to Cambodia.

The hijacking was said to had been carried out by a group of seven pirates who boarded the tanker from a speedboat. The fuel was pumped out in around three hours and a half to another vessel while, as the tanker’s captain claimed, “the crew was locked in a room while he had been ordered to steer the ship by a group armed with machetes and a gun,” Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s statement read.

The pirates are believed to had been scared off by Malaysian Navy patrol vessels causing them to flee to nearby islands.

All the crew including the captain are safe, but have been subjected to an investigation by MMEA so as to check their potential involvement in the robbery since such scenarios have been common over the recent period.

According to Nexus Maritime Security this is the sixth hijacking in SE Asia since April.

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Star Online said:

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) ship KD Terengganu rescued the tanker Mt Ai Maru which was captured by pirates south of Pulau Aur, Mersing.

In a statement from the Minis*try of Defence last night, the Singaporean-owned Mt Ai Maru. which was captured by pirates about 30 nautical miles south of Pulau Aur at 8.30am on Saturday, was rescued at about 1.40am today.

“KD Terengganu which is based in Tanjung Gelang, Kuantan was dispatched to intercept the tanker as soon as we received the report. The tanker was detected having dropped anchor at position 155 Pulau Aur.

“KD Terengganu tried to communicate with MT Ai Maru but failed,” said the statement.

According to the statement, the pirates had escaped into international waters in a speed boat after realising the presence of KD Terengganu.

“All the crew of the tanker are believed to be safe. The ship was then handed to the southern region Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for further investigation,” it said.

Earlier, MMEA deputy director-general (Operation), Datuk Mohd Puzi Ab Kahar confirmed the ship was carrying 700,000 litres of diesel worth RM1.4 million.

Mohd Puzi said MMEA was looking into the possibility of an inside job in the incident

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Puerto Princesa (Philippines) (AFP) - A Philippine court on Wednesday sentenced 12 Vietnamese men to six months in jail and fined them $100,000 for illegal fishing, the prosecutor in the case said.

The fishermen, who were arrested on March 21 with a boatload of sharks just off the western island of Palawan, pleaded guilty last week, prosecutor Alen Rodriguez told AFP.

If the 12 cannot pay the fine, the equivalent of more than $8,000 each and a huge sum for such fishermen, the judge could add more time to their sentence, said Rodriguez.

But in similar cases in the past, foreign fishermen caught in Philippine waters were allowed to go free after serving their sentences without paying the fine, he said.

"We will see if they can pay. If they cannot, then let us see what is done by the court," he said.

The Vietnamese embassy in Manila could not be contacted for comment.

Taking into account the three months that the 12 have already been in jail, they may be released in September, said clerk of court Hazel Mae Alaska.

Vietnamese fishermen have been caught repeatedly fishing in Philippine waters in recent years, mostly near Palawan, which is the closest major Filipino island to Vietnam.

The near-2,000-kilometre (1,250-mile) coast of Palawan is home to some of the region's richest fishing grounds.

The Philippines has few maritime resources to police the area, so fishermen from neighbouring countries regularly sail in.

Another group of 12 Vietnamese, arrested in 2013 collecting sea turtles near Palawan, are still in jail in the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa while their case for allegedly violating wildlife laws drags on.

If convicted, they face 12 years in jail, said Alex Marcaida, spokesman of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, an environmental law enforcement office.

In 2011, 122 Vietnamese were arrested near Palawan in the biggest illegal fishing bust in recent memory. They served jail terms of about six months, then were sent home.

The arrests of the Vietnamese fishermen have generally occurred in waters very close to Palawan, and not in areas of the adjoining South China Sea that are subject to competing territorial claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, China and other neighbouring countries.

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