Resolutely clearing cages on Cam Ranh Bay

With the serious encroachment of aquaculture cages on maritime works in Cam Ranh Bay, since the end of 2024, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province has issued a plan to strengthen the management of aquaculture activities. Thanks to the drastic participation of functional agencies and localities, the work of clearing illegal aquaculture cages in the bay has achieved many positive results, gradually restoring order in the sea area, creating conditions for stable development of seaport activities.

Serious encroachment of seaport waters

Illegal fishing activities in Cam Ranh Bay have been going on for many years, leading to widespread fishing cages and gear encroaching on most of the protection corridors of maritime works. By the end of 2023, the dedicated waterway of Cam Ranh International Port and the anchorage areas in the bay were completely encroached; the Ba Ngoi maritime waterway and the route to Hong Moc Liquefied Petroleum Gas Port occupied more than 50% of the water area; the turning and anchorage areas at Ba Ngoi Port and Cam Ranh Cement were also affected. This situation prevented ships of 20,000 DWT or more from anchoring, seriously hindering exploitation activities, directly affecting the efficiency of ports, especially Ba Ngoi Port and Cam Ranh International Port.

View of the waterway into Cam Ranh International Port at the end of 2024.

Faced with the above situation, on December 9, 2024, the Provincial People's Committee issued a plan to tighten the management of aquaculture, requiring departments, branches and localities to coordinate and implement synchronously. Cam Ranh City People's Committee also developed a separate plan to inspect and handle aquaculture activities on the waterways leading to Cam Ranh International Port. Along with that, the Vietnam Maritime Administration and Waterways, Nha Trang Maritime Port Authority and port enterprises have joined in, coordinated to organize propaganda and mobilize people to dismantle illegal cages and rafts, returning the water surface to maritime works in Cam Ranh Bay.

Mr. Ngo Huu Hien - Vice Chairman of Cam Ranh City People's Committee said that the city has directed coastal communes and wards to visit each household and raft at sea to collect statistics, propagate and mobilize people to comply with legal regulations in exploiting and using the sea surface. Thanks to the drastic participation from the grassroots, many households have voluntarily dismantled and relocated cages and fishing equipment out of the maritime corridor protection area. At the same time, the authorities have increased inspection and strictly handled violations, preventing re-encroachment. It can be affirmed that close coordination is a key factor bringing about effectiveness in clearing cages and rafts encroaching on maritime works, especially the access routes to Cam Ranh International Port.

Shipping lanes gradually cleared

Since the beginning of the year, Tan Cang Petro Cam Ranh Company Limited - the operator of Cam Ranh International Port, has coordinated to organize 8 patrols at sea and 5 direct propaganda sessions in coastal communes and wards. As a result, 15 rafts with nearly 2,900 shrimp cages of 18 households have been dismantled and relocated from the dedicated waterway. An ownerless raft has also been towed to Cam Binh commune for processing. To date, all rafts at the waterway leading to Cam Ranh International Port have been cleared.

Authorities coordinated to inspect locations of aquaculture cages encroaching on shipping lanes.

In addition, Nha Trang Maritime Port Authority coordinated with Cam Ranh City and the People's Committees of coastal communes and wards to organize 21 inspections, 6 propaganda sessions, and mobilized 67 households to sign a commitment to relocate cages. Thanks to that, the Ba Ngoi maritime route has been basically cleared, with no more cages encroaching. At the route to Hong Moc Liquefied Gas Port, the number of cages and mussel farming lines has decreased by more than 60%. The routes to Cam Ranh Cement Port and K662 petroleum port have not generated any more illegal aquaculture activities.

However, according to Mr. Tran Tuan Hiep - Director of Nha Trang Maritime Port Authority, cages still exist in the area of ​​the access channel to Hong Moc Liquefied Gas Port; the anchorage areas in Cam Ranh Bay have not been thoroughly resolved, affecting the ability to receive large ships over 30,000 DWT, greatly affecting the operations of Ba Ngoi Port and Cam Ranh International Port. In addition, the situation of people avoiding and not cooperating in participating in propaganda sessions, as well as the phenomenon of moving cages from one violation point to another, poses a potential risk of re-encroachment.

To overcome this, from now until July 2025, Nha Trang Maritime Port Authority will coordinate with relevant units to focus on clearing all cages and rafts in the area affected by the Ba Ngoi Navigation Channel Maintenance Dredging Project. At the same time, it is recommended that local authorities issue sanctions to strictly handle cases of intentional violations and non-cooperation, in order to gradually restore order to Cam Ranh waters.

Van Ky

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202505/quyet-liet-giai-toa-long-be-tren-vinh-cam-ranh-d6c4357/