Fishermen are not interested in fishing insurance.

(Baonghean) - While for a long time now, insurance for cars, motorbikes and other road vehicles has been subject to compulsory insurance policies, insurance in the fishing sector is being neglected. Fishermen are not very interested even though risks at sea frequently occur...

We arrived at Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district on a rough day due to the influence of a cold front. Along the sea channel bordering Dien Bich and Dien Kim communes, hundreds of boats were anchored, waiting for calm weather and calm seas to set sail. For generations, the main occupation of people in Quyet Thang hamlet has been fishing at sea. In recent years, many households in the hamlet have boldly invested in boats, switching from small boats to large-capacity boats, shifting fishing from the open sea to the open sea, with higher productivity and output than before. However, shifting fishing areas and going offshore carries many risks.

Mr. Pham Van Hai, owner of a 90CV fishing boat, said: There have been cases where fishing boats of fishermen in Quyet Thang hamlet were sunk by waves, fishermen died, but people have not received any significant support other than the visitation policy of organizations, unions and local authorities from the province, district to commune because their fishing boats did not buy hull insurance, fishermen also did not buy insurance for crew members. Most recently, during storm No. 10, Mr. Tran Van Tam's fishing boat in Quyet Thang hamlet encountered fierce waves on the way back to the shelter, the boat was sunk at the mouth of the creek. Many other boat owners were present to rescue people, Mr. Tam was rescued by a friend's boat but the billion-dollar boat was completely damaged and could not be salvaged. Also because he did not buy hull insurance, Mr. Tran Van Tam did not receive any support. "No one in this neighborhood has bought hull insurance, nor has anyone bought crew insurance," said Nguyen Truc Giang, owner of a fishing boat anchored right under Dien Kim bridge.

Mr. Pham Van Hai, Quyet Thang hamlet, Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district did not participate in crew and hull insurance.

The entire Dien Bich commune has 192 fishing boats, of which 60 are over 90CV with nearly 1,000 fishing workers operating at sea. All of these boats do not buy hull and hull insurance and only a few fishermen pay to buy crew accident insurance from insurance companies. Dien Ngoc commune has 7/12 hamlets engaged in seafood fishing in the inshore and offshore areas with nearly 420 boats and thousands of seafarers, with an annual fish output of nearly 14,000 tons. Like fishermen in Dien Bich commune, most of the people in Dien Ngoc do not buy hull and hull insurance and accident insurance for crew members working on the boats. According to statistics, out of more than 1,400 boats in Dien Chau district, only about 60 large-capacity boats buy hull and hull insurance and less than 100 crew members out of nearly 7,000 seafarers in the district buy risk insurance at sea.

Leaving the two key points of Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich, following the coastal road, we turned to the sea of ​​Quynh Luu district. Minh Thanh fishing village, Quynh Long commune, was quite gloomy in the last days of the year, people were still shocked after the fishing boat NA 93240-TS suddenly sank in mid-December, causing 8 people to drown. Of these 8 people, 6 were citizens of Minh Thanh village. Because they did not buy hull insurance, they were not compensated when they encountered an accident at sea. Previously, fishing boats of some other fishermen in Quynh Luu district also encountered similar situations. Mr. Pham Anh Tien, an officer of the Fisheries Association of Quynh Long commune, said that due to the complicated weather conditions, there were more and more accidents while at sea. In recent years, the commune government and the Fisheries Association have always encouraged people to buy crew accident insurance and hull insurance. 100% of workers in Quynh Long have purchased accident insurance, but fishing boat owners are not interested in hull insurance. Currently, the whole commune has 174 fishing boats, of which 110 have a capacity of over 90CV, very few of these boat owners buy hull insurance. Mr. Tien said that most of the accident insurance is purchased by crew members themselves at a price of about 200,000 VND/person/year, while boat owners do not buy hull insurance because the insurance premium is too expensive, from 15 to 20 million VND/year. In other communes of Quynh Luu district such as Son Hai, Tien Thuy, Quynh Nghia, fishermen are also not interested in fishing insurance. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Truc, an officer of the Department of Agriculture in charge of boats of Quynh Luu district, said that the whole district currently has nearly 1,200 boats, of which half are large capacity boats, over 90CV, but currently, there are no specific statistics on how many boats have purchased hull and hull insurance, or how many crew members have purchased risk insurance.

The situation of people being indifferent to fishing insurance does not only happen in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu but is a common situation in coastal districts such as Nghi Loc, Cua Lo, and Hoang Mai Town. According to Decision No. 289 dated March 18, 2008 of the Prime Minister, when fishermen buy new or build new fishing boats with engine capacity of 90CV or more or convert old boats to new engines that consume less fuel for boats with 40CV or more, they will be supported with money. One of the conditions to receive support is that the boat must have hull insurance, and the crew working on the boat must have accident insurance. Decision No. 289 also stipulates that the State supports 30% of the cost of buying hull insurance and 100% of the cost of buying annual crew accident insurance for fishing boats with 40CV or more,...

In addition, in this decision, the State also supports fuel costs for ship owners whose fishing vessels have completed procedures to purchase hull insurance, crew accident insurance, have inspections, and register their fishing vessels in accordance with the law. Each trip out to sea is supported with about 8 million VND... By 2010, the support policies in this decision expired, and people no longer bought insurance. Another reason is that the procedures to receive insurance money are quite cumbersome. Boat accidents often occur at sea, and determining the cause of the accident is difficult. On the other hand, fishing vessel owners also said that the cost of hull insurance of 15 - 20 million VND/year is a large number, while most of the crew members on fishing vessels in Nghe An are freelancers, without contracts with ship owners, so it is understandable that ship owners do not buy insurance for them.

Nghe An has more than 4,000 fishing boats and more than 19,000 workers working in the sea but only a few buy hull and crew accident insurance. At the 3rd session of the 16th Nghe An Provincial People's Council, Resolution No. 28/2011, NQ-HDND dated December 9, 2011 on supporting 50% of the cost of purchasing insurance for crew members of poor households, and policies for participating in offshore fishing on vessels of 90CV or more. However, according to Mr. Thach Dinh Nghia, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune, this policy has not been responded to by fishermen for many different reasons. Mr. Nguyen Chi Luong - Head of the Department of Exploitation and Protection of Aquatic Resources of Nghe An province said: In the coming time, the Department will review the implementation of fisheries insurance, and at the same time, stipulate that all types of boats over 90CV must purchase hull and hull insurance, and crew members working on the boat must purchase risk insurance. This is considered a mandatory condition for fishing boats to be inspected and go to sea, moving towards universalizing fisheries insurance for all fishermen as well as boat owners.

Like other types of risk insurance, these are extremely important types of insurance for fishermen, contributing to minimizing damage and reducing costs when incidents occur at sea. While people are not yet aware of the importance of these types of insurance, the authorities need to step in to propagate, popularize and raise awareness among people. Companies operating in the field of fisheries insurance also need to have financial support policies, by simplifying compensation and appraisal procedures to help people more easily access this important type of insurance, contributing to helping fishermen feel secure at sea, strive to get rich from fishing and preserve the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the homeland.

Article and photos:Nguyen Khoa