One commune affected more than 6 billion VND
Following Lao Dong Newspaper's report that fishermen in Quang Binh lost connection to monitor their journeys, leading to people being unable to submit documents to receive fuel costs, on October 1, Quang Binh Fisheries Branch held a meeting with the Department of Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), representatives of Vinaphone - VNPT network and representatives of fishermen to find a solution.
At the meeting, the representative of fishermen, Mr. Dao Xuan Vinh - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bao Ninh Commune (Dong Hoi City) said that in the commune alone, there were 187 ships affected by Decision 48, with an estimated impact of more than 6 billion VND.
"People hope that relevant agencies will resolve the issue soon, help fishermen submit their applications and operate the system smoothly so they can continue to go to sea," said Mr. Vinh.
Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung - Deputy Head of Corporate Customer Department, VNPT - VinaPhone Telecommunication Services Corporation said that the loss of communication on April 15 was due to an incident with the Thuraya 3 satellite (this satellite was contracted by the network operator with Thuraya Company - a foreign partner).
“All countries in the world affected by the satellite are considered to have force majeure reasons. All areas in Asia using this satellite are affected. During the time the error occurred from April 15 to 27, the supplier Thuraya Company sent this information to the IUU organization related to fishing worldwide,” said Mr. Dung.
VNPT hopes this will be the basis and confirmation for people during the period of losing contact from April 15-27, 2024.
When the incident occurred, VNPT upgraded the firmware (used to store journey data) for 403 vessels, but this data has not been accepted by management agencies. In Quang Binh, there are 391 vessels that have not upgraded this data. VNPT proposed to upgrade the firmware of all remaining fishing vessels, and hopes to have this data accepted for synchronization.
Speed up implementation
Quang Binh Fisheries Branch Manager Le Ngoc Linh agrees with VNPT's proposals. He hopes that the network operator and the Department of Fisheries will coordinate with each other to issue a final document, agreeing on support for fishermen as soon as possible.
The representative of the Department of Fisheries agreed to update VNPT's data to fishing vessels. Legally, when VNPT sends an official dispatch, the Department of Fisheries will review and handle what exists in October 2024.
Regarding the force majeure of the satellite error, the Department of Fisheries will assign the Fishing Vessel Monitoring Center (Department of Fisheries) to work directly with VNPT to agree on the content, check whether this is force majeure or not, then will have a final answer for the people as soon as possible.
Previously, Lao Dong Newspaper published an article titled “Fishermen suffer because they cannot submit documents to receive fuel costs”. Accordingly, nearly 70 fishermen in Bao Ninh Commune (Dong Hoi City) could not submit documents to receive fuel costs because they lost connection to monitor their journey.
Some fishermen from Bao Ninh commune and the Quang Binh Network Business Center had a meeting. Documents provided by the fishermen clearly stated that the loss of connection occurred from 11pm on April 15, 2024, due to a problem with the Thuraya 3 satellite.
The households requested the network operator to be responsible and give opinions to the Provincial People's Committee to resolve and support according to Decision 48 of the Prime Minister.
