After storm No. 13, Dak Lak fishermen race to repair boats to return to sea

Present at Vung Chao wharf, Song Cau ward, Dak Lak province on the morning of November 11, reporters recorded the scene of urgent repairs of fishing boats by fishermen here. From afar, the sounds of hammers, welding machines, and people calling each other echoed everywhere. A few days ago, before storm No. 13 made landfall, this place was the anchorage for hundreds of fishermen's boats, now it has turned into a "boat cemetery" with a series of wrecks lying scattered on the sand.

Sitting blankly next to a wooden boat more than 10m long that was broken in half, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (born in 1982, residing in Song Cau ward) said that the boat is the only "fishing rod" for his family. He works in shrimp farming in the bay, every day he has to visit the cages, feed the shrimp, and check the buoy system. "After the storm, my family's boat was broken in half, it was very damaged. Today we had to hire a crane to lift it up and take it back to the workshop to rebuild a new hull. Roughly, it cost more than 400 million VND, not including the cost of repairing the engine and repainting," Mr. Hung said with a worried voice.

Not far away, Pham Van Ninh (born in 1992) and his friends were busy reinforcing the ship that had been tossed by waves and was lying on its side. Before the storm, he brought the ship to Vung Chao wharf for shelter, thinking it would be sheltered from the wind, but unexpectedly the storm was so strong that dozens of ships were blown away, colliding and breaking apart. “Now we have to hire a crane of dozens of tons to pull it out. It is so heartbreaking to see this scene, all our capital is in there,” Ninh said sadly.

According to local government statistics, after storm No. 13, hundreds of large and small fishing boats in Song Cau, Xuan Dai and Xuan Phuong wards were severely damaged, many of which lost the ability to go to sea. Ship repair shops in this area are currently operating at full capacity, with fishermen taking turns on duty day and night, hoping to soon restore their boats to continue making a living.

For severely damaged ships, the hull is destroyed beyond repair, so people have to "cut open" the engine to sell or repair it to install on new ships. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hai, a fisherman in Vung Chao, sadly looks at his family's 160 million VND ship, which now only has the engine left. "The hull is almost completely damaged, submerged in water for many days so it cannot be repaired. I took the engine out but I don't know if it can be used again, because the seawater has seeped in for a long time. Even if it can be repaired, it will be very expensive," Mr. Hai shared.

Mr. Vo Ngoc Thanh, Chairman of Song Cau Ward People's Committee, said that the locality has prepared a report and proposed that the Provincial People's Committee work with the bank to allow Vung Chao residents who suffered damage due to storm No. 13 to defer, extend debt and take out new loans to have the conditions to repair boats and continue to go out to sea. "Now we just hope that the State will soon support fishermen and that the weather will be stable so that they can go out to sea at the end of the season. Every day of delay means every day of loss," Chairman Vo Ngoc Thanh said, his eyes looking out to the sea, which used to be the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen full of worry.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/sau-bao-so-13-ngu-dan-dak-lak-chay-dua-sua-thuyen-de-vuon-khoi-tro-lai-i787698/