Many fishing vessels lose VMS signal
According to the Steering Committee against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in Vinh Long province, the whole province of Vinh Long currently has 4,650 fishing vessels, of which 2,264 vessels are required to install voyage monitoring devices (VMS).
By the end of September 2025, 2,241 ships had completed installation, reaching a rate of nearly 99% of the total number of registered equipment. However, VMS outages still occurred, recording 3,331 ships losing signal from 6 hours to less than 10 days in the first 9 months of 2025, down from 4,550 in 2024.
Cases of loss of connection after 10 days also decreased by half, from 23 to 12. The main causes include unstable power sources, damaged equipment or weak satellite waves.
The provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment said that all cases of lost signal were verified and handled according to the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
For ships that lose signal for less than 10 days, if the ship owner restores connection and reports the location in accordance with regulations, the file will be closed and monitoring will end.
The prolonged disconnection not only affects supervision but also poses risks in controlling illegal seafood exploitation, causing difficulties in managing and ensuring safety for fishermen at sea.
In particular, ships that lose connection after 10 days in 2025 must verify the cause of accidents or equipment damage, there are no intentional violations; equipment management and repair are still limited.
No intentional violations detected
Speaking with Lao Dong, Vice Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Quynh Thien - Head of the Steering Committee for Countering IUU said that he chaired a meeting to strengthen coordination between the three parties: State agencies, service providers and ship owners, to effectively control the situation of loss of VMS connection.
At the meeting, he emphasized the need to enhance the responsibility of each party in managing and supervising fishing vessels, ensuring that there are no gaps in the monitoring system.
According to the directive, service providers must quickly upgrade equipment and improve technology, and confirm the cause of disconnection incidents and send documents to specialized agencies for timely handling.
These units must also provide full data when incidents arise, and at the same time, conduct 6-month, annual or ad hoc reports as required by the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
The locality regularly organizes meetings to evaluate the quality of services and journey monitoring equipment on fishing vessels. Supervision activities are currently basically stable, but it is still necessary to continuously inspect and evaluate to promptly fix the problem.
"Suppliers maintain communication points with the Department of Fisheries, Fisheries Control and International waters, coordinate to verify the cause of the disconnection according to regulations, ensuring the fishing vessel monitoring system operates smoothly and effectively," Mr. Thien added.
