Nghe An boats struggle to find anchorage during stormy season

Overloaded anchorage area, silted channel

Present in the Lach Quen area of ​​Tien Thuy commune, Quynh Luu district these days, boats are seen anchored on both sides of the creek. Mr. Tran Van Minh, a boat owner in Tien Thuy commune, shared: Boats from everywhere come to avoid the tropical depression, there is not enough space to dock, due to crowding, when the wind is strong, boats collide and sometimes the light bulb system breaks. Some boats have no more space to dock and sometimes have to take the risk of going deep into the Lach Quen area or being silted up to find a place to dock..

Mr. Nguyen Van Uoc - Chairman of Tien Thuy Commune People's Committee said: The whole commune has 262 boats. Since 2016, the State has allowed the commune to upgrade embankment area No. 3, which is the place to anchor boats, but it can only accommodate 200 boats. More than 60 boats do not have a place to anchor and have to find their own neighboring areas that are often silted up. causing many local fishermen to worry.

Mr. Bui Xuan Truc - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Quynh Luu district added: The whole district of Quynh Luu currently has over 800 boats, with 2 storm shelters including: Lach Quen storm shelter in Tien Thuy and Quynh Thuan communes, Lach Thoi storm shelter in Son Hai and Quynh Tho communes. From 2023 to now, the State has invested in upgrading the Lach Quen storm shelter system in Quynh Thuan commune and Tien Thuy commune.

However, there are still difficulties such as because the Lach Quen storm shelter is at the “regional level”, when it rains and winds, there will be ships from other provinces passing by to anchor, so there are times when it is crowded. Both storm shelters have the same situation of silting the canal, making it difficult for ships to enter and exit.

Also in the same situation, Lach Van fishing port and storm shelter areaDien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district has been seriously silted up, making it difficult for fishermen's boats to move, even causing accidents. Fisherman Tran Van Minh shared: Every trip to Lach Van port requires high concentration to steer, otherwise the boat will run aground immediately. In recent years, large, high-capacity ships have had complicated access to the estuary, often encountering incidents of running aground, damaging boats, costing hundreds of millions of dong in rescue and repair costs.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Dien Ngoc Commune People's Committee added: The whole Dien Ngoc commune has 283 boats, the most difficult problem at present is that Lach Van is seriously silted, in 2023 5 boats ran aground, in early 2024 2 boats ran aground. Many large boats when returning to shore do not dare to enter Lach Van but have to anchor outside the mouth of the canal to hire small boats to "increase the price" of seafood, leading to increased costs for boat owners. Therefore, fishermen really hope that the State will invest in deeper and wider channels so that boats can enter and exit the port conveniently.

Solutions are needed to effectively dredge waterways.

Nghe An is one of the provinces with a large number of fishing vessels with over 3,400 boats. This development is raising the issue of logistics and storm shelter services to meet the demand. In the past, although the State has paid attention to upgrading 5 storm shelter anchorage areas for fishing vessels including: Lach Quen, Lach Thoi (Quynh Luu district); Lach Con (Hoang Mai town); Lach Van (Dien Chau district); Lach Lo (Cua Lo town), however, with Lach Van estuary (Dien Chau district); Lach Thoi, Lach Quen (Quynh Luu district), due to the lack of fundamental solutions, the sedimentation situation still recurs.

During the rainy and stormy season, many fishermen have to struggle to find a place to anchor their boats. Many fishermen have to move their boats to other locations to anchor because the canals are silted up and narrow, making it impossible to get to a storm shelter..

Discussing the above issue, Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: Currently, the relevant sector has deployed to review and re-evaluate the storm shelters, river mouths, and sea mouths with fishing boats of fishermen. Specifically, currently, the estuaries of Lach Thoi (Quynh Luu district), Lach Con (Hoang Mai town), Lach Van (Dien Chau district), Lach Hoi (Cua Lo town) have been dredging for a long time, but after 2-3 months, the sea sand has flooded and deposited, making it difficult for boats to enter and exit.

Recently, in the planning of the fishing port system and storm shelters for fishing vessels for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, which has just been approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 582/QD-TTg, dated July 3, 2024, Nghe An has 7 fishing ports included in the planning, including 3 type I fishing ports, 2 type II fishing ports and 2 type III fishing ports. Accordingly, type I fishing ports in Nghe An include: Cua Hoi fishing port in Nghi Hai ward, Cua Lo town, which can receive 120 fishing vessels with a maximum length of 40m per day, with an annual volume of 25,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port.

Lach Quen fishing port in Tien Thuy and Quynh Thuan communes, Quynh Luu district, can accommodate 200 fishing boats with a maximum length of 35m per day, with an annual volume of 30,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port. Lach Con fishing port in Quynh Phuong ward and Quynh Lap commune, Hoang Mai town, can accommodate 120 fishing boats with a maximum length of 35m per day, with an annual volume of 25,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port.

Type II fishing ports include: Lach Van Port in Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes, Dien Chau district, which can accommodate 100 fishing boats with a maximum length of 24m per day, with an annual volume of 15,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port. Lach Lo Port in Nghi Tan and Nghi Thuy wards, Cua Lo town, can accommodate 50 fishing boats with a maximum length of 30m per day, with an annual volume of 15,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port.

Type III fishing ports include: Quynh Nghia Port in Quynh Nghia Commune, Quynh Luu District, which can accommodate 20 ships with a maximum length of 24m per day, with an annual volume of 3,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port. Lach Thoi Port in Son Hai Commune, Quynh Luu District, can accommodate 20 ships with a maximum length of 24m per day, with an annual volume of 3,000 tons of aquatic products passing through the port.

In addition, Nghe An province also plans to have 5 storm shelter anchorage areas for fishing boats, including 2 regional anchorage areas and 3 provincial anchorage areas, specifically, Regional storm shelter anchorage areas include: Lach Quen in the territory of Tien Thuy and Quynh Nghia communes, Quynh Luu district and Lach Con section through Quynh Phuong, Quynh Di, Quynh Thien wards and Quynh Lap, Quynh Loc communes, Hoang Mai town. These two anchorage areas both have a capacity of 1,000 fishing boats with a maximum length of 35m each.

Provincial storm shelter anchorage areas include: At Lach Van section through the communes of Dien Ky, Dien Van, Dien Kim, Dien Bich and Dien Ngoc (Dien Chau district), with a capacity of 650 fishing boats; at Lach Lo section through Nghi Quang commune, Nghi Loc district with a capacity of 600 fishing boats and at Lach Thoi section through Son Hai and Quynh Ngoc communes, Quynh Luu district with a capacity of 350 boats. The longest fishing boat length that can anchor at these 3 ports is 24m.

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To solve the sedimentation problem, we need to dredge the estuaries and build embankments on both sides of the estuary to prevent sedimentation. This is the fundamental solution to prevent sedimentation at the estuary. However, the solution requires a very large cost ...

Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development