Vietnam Strengthens It's Fishing Fleet Amidst The South China Sea Dispute

Captain Nguyen Cho, 47 - on the far right, greets his friends' boat as they head out of the port on Tho Quang fishing port, he said 'we use to work peacefully with foreign boats out of the sea, we helped out each others anytime someone got problems. Now because of the conflict, we can't even hide on the disputed island during the storm', on August 30, 2016 in Danang, Vietnam. Vietnam, known to be among the most vocal critics on China's territorial claims, continues to denounce the dispute over the South China Sea with a history of violent clashes since 1974. In recent years, the fierce standoffs continue between the two countries over fishery, oil and gas reserves which had prompted massive riots in Hanoi 2 years ago which were followed by collisions between Vietnamese and Chinese ships. Local media reported 4000 boats had run into accidents involving foreign boats over the past 2 years while thousands of Vietnamese fishermen claim their fishing boats have been rammed and sank by the Chinese. As Vietnamese fishermen persist in carrying out their fishing operations, their main defense for them is to join forces at sea to ensure safety while replacing the old boats with new ones which are bigger and more powerful with help from government loans to upgrade their boats.