The Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command officers find a fishing boat off Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province carrying 30,000 litres of smuggled diesel on September 1. —  Photo Courtesy of VCG

BÀ RỊA-VŨNG TÀU — The Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command has seized 30,000 litres of smuggled diesel from a fishing boat seven nautical miles off the southern coastal province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu.

The Vũng Tàu City-based Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command on September 2 said its working team in collaboration with Vũng Tàu City's Border Control Station and the province’s Border Guard on September 1 spotted boat BV5491TS from Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province, and officers boarded it and found the oil of unknown origin.

On board were its captain, Hồ Văn Sót, 37, of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province and three crew members.

Sót failed to furnish documents proving the origin of the oil.

On September 2, the working team brought the boat ashore and handed the case over to Squadron 301 of the Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command for further investigation. 

The Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command under the Việt Nam Coast Guard is tasked with managing the sea from Cù Lao Xanh Island in the coastal south-central province of Bình Định to the northern bank of Định An estuary in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Trà Vinh, including the waters of Trường Sa (Spratly) Islands and DK1 rigs.

It has completed its task of protecting the nation's sovereignty and enforcing the law at sea over the past years. — VNS