BINH MINH 02

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Vietnam protests as Chinese ships harass Vietnamese vessel 'Binh Minh 02'

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry summoned a Chinese embassy representative Monday to protest the latest incident at sea when a Vietnamese ship had its cables cut by Chinese fishing vessels, news webiste Petrotimes reported. The ministry handed over a diplomatic note to the Chinese envoy about the incident that occurred on November 30. Speaking to Thanh Nien on the phone Monday after PetroVietnam’s news website Petrotimes reported that the group’s exploration vessel Binh Minh 02 was harassed -- the same ship that was targeted 18 months ago -- Carl Thayer, a maritime analyst at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, said the latest incident was a “highly provocative act.” http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/pages/20121204-china-ships-harass-vietnam-ship-again-in-vietnamese-waters.aspx

Binh Minh 02 sails again

The "Binh Minh 02" departed from Nha Trang Port on June 5, 2011, in the evening, ten days after it was challenged by Chinese boats while operating in Vietnam’s territorial waters. The vessel of PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation was accompanied by eight guardian ships, instead of three as before. The oil exploration trip of the "Binh Minh 2" will last in 42 days on the Truong Sa (Spratly) islands. On May 26, a trio of Chinese boats entered Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone and severed cables linking the "Binh Minh 02" to sensitive exploratory equipment. The incident took place in an area called Block 148 about 80 miles off the south-central coast of Vietnam from the beach town of Nha Trang, and some 600 km (370 miles) south of China's Hainan island. Two days after the incident, five Chinese fishing boats and a spy plane were spotted near the waters where the "Binh Minh 02" was conducting oil exploration work. On May 31, the vessel came to Nha Trang Port in the Khanh Hoa Province for repairs.

Vido footage of Chinese sabotage released

Vietnam's state-owned oil company PetroVietnam recently released footage of the incident on May 26, 2011, 128 kilometres off the south-central coast of Vietnam, and 643 kilometres south of China's Hainan island. The video was taken by the crew of the "Binh Minh 02" as it towed a submerged, seven-kilometre-long seismic survey cable searching for oil and gas deposits. A boat - clearly marked with China Marine Surveillance on one side - is seen approaching the ship. The captain, Alexander Belov, is heard yelling: "This is Binh Minh 02 trying to contact you. You are acting very stupidly and dangerously. Stay away of the cable! Stay away of the cable!" He then orders a horn to be sounded several times. Another shot shows the Chinese vessel further than a kilometre away. "The 84 Chinese marine surveillance ship is cutting through the seismic exploration cable from left to right," the Vietnamese captions on the video say. "The ship then comes back, but by then the cables had sunk deep and so it could not cut any more.'' This is the first time China has been accused of deliberately severing cables. Experts say the incident has raised the stakes in the long-standing row about territorial waters in south-east Asia, and has highlighted nervousness about China's growing assertiveness in the region.