Thousands of fishing boats of Nghe An fishermen have come ashore to avoid storm number 4.

After receiving the directive from Nghe An Provincial Border Guard Station calling on fishing vessels at sea to return to safe shelters, Lach Thoi Control Station - Quynh Thuan Border Guard Station contacted Icom with 22 fishing groups to urgently return to shore to avoid storm No. 4.

Major Ho Sy Duc - Lach Thoi Control Station, Quynh Thuan Border Guard Station said: The unit manages 270 vessels with nearly 1,900 workers from 3 communes of Quynh Tho, Quynh Ngoc and Son Hai.

As of 9:00 a.m. on August 16, all vehicles had returned to safe anchorage and shelter.

As of 10 a.m. on August 16, thousands of fishing boats of fishermen in Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town returned to safe harbor. Photo: Viet Hung

In order to limit damage when the storm hits, the unit directs officers and soldiers to go to the anchorage to propagate to fishermen to tie down boats to avoid collision, and at the same time assign one person to stay behind to look after their property; when the storm hits, they must move quickly, no one is allowed to stay on the boat.

Just arriving at the dock at 8am this morning, fisherman Nguyen Van Manh in Son Hai commune is working with crew members to secure and protect the vehicle. Mr. Manh said:“When we received information about storm No. 4, we were fishing in the Thanh Hoa sea area, immediately gathered our nets and quickly returned to Lach Thoi wharf to anchor. After a night of running back to shore, our boat arrived at the port at 8am this morning.”

To limit the damage caused by storm No. 4, soldiers of Quynh Thuan Border Guard Station (Quynh Luu) got on board to help fishermen secure and protect their property. Photo: Viet Hung

Quynh Luu is a district with large vessels with nearly 1,200 vessels, including more than 700 offshore fishing vessels.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, as of 10:00 am today, all boats have returned to safe harbor, including 61 boats anchored in Quang Binh, 2 in Quang Tri, 1 in Hai Phong. The remaining 4 boats of Quynh Nghia fishermen are operating in the waters of Quang Ngai (an area not affected by storm No. 4).

In Hoang Mai town, currently, 885 vessels have returned to safe shelters, of which 424 are fishing offshore.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc Thuy - Head of Economic Department, Hoang Mai Town said: "Receiving the urgent telegram from the Provincial People's Committee on responding to storm No. 4, the locality promptly issued an official dispatch, requesting coastal communes and Quynh Phuong Border Guard Station to coordinate in grasping information to call on fishermen to take shelter from the storm. Along with that, the Steering Committee of Hoang Mai Irrigation Enterprise has a plan to release spillway from Vuc Mau Lake according to the procedure to regulate the water level in the lake, proactively responding to storms and rains".

Fishing boats take shelter from the storm at Cua Hoi Fishing Port. Photo: Lam Tung

In Cua Lo, Mr. Nguyen Van Trung - Head of the town's Economic Department said that the whole town currently has 269 fishing boats and ships.

As of the morning of August 16, the town has called on 265 boats to return to safe storm shelters at Cua Hoi Fishing Port and Nghi Thuy Commune; and 4 fishing boats fishing near the shore in the Ngu Island area are being called back to shore by authorities.

Cua Lo Town continues to monitor the developments of storm No. 4 to proactively mobilize functional forces to respond.

People covered their boats with tarpaulins and tied them carefully to avoid storm number 4. Photo: Lam Tung

Currently, Cua Lo town is experiencing heavy rain due to the impact of storm No. 4. Most of the large boats and rudimentary fishing equipment have been brought to storm shelters and tied carefully by fishermen to avoid damage caused by storms.