"Chinese Warship Rams Two Vietnamese Fishing Vessels" Topic

A People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) amphibious warship allegedly rammed two Vietnamese fishing vessels operating near the disputed Spratly Islands in July, according to local press cited in an Office of Naval Intelligence threat to shipping report.

According to accounts of the fisherman, reported in the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, about 15 nautical miles off the western coast of the Spratlys on July 21 "a strange iron-clad Chinese ship numbered 994 suddenly appeared and approached [the fishing vessel] sounding its horn."

The ship then sprayed the vessels with water cannon and precipitated a 30-minute chase. "In order to avoid a possible collision, I tried to steer my boat away, but the strange ship still chased after and then rammed it on the right side," captain Nguyen Nhat Ngoc said to the paper…

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There's an article in the Diplomat about the Chinese Maritime Militia that includes a brief discussion about the role of fishing vessels in international law and the law of war.

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Or was it "Two Vietnamese spy ships ram innocent Chinese scientific vessel"? :-)

OTOH, good to hear China has finally gotten around to ironclads.

Yup, another scenario for my Cod War rules :)

I'm sure it was an accident.

So much I guess, for the freedom of navigation of the seas, in the Chinese "lake".

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"BEIJING (Reuters) – China hit back on Monday at U.S. criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbors.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 USD trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims..

Freedom of overflights and navigation doesn't mean allowing foreign warships and military jets to violate other countries' sovereignty and security, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters on Monday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused China of restricting such movements in the region last week".

Perhaps those little fishing boats are "naval vessels".

PT Dockyard makes an impressive range in both 1/600 and 1/700.

Not sure there are any good little fishing boats, but they shouldn't be too hard to craft out of a bit of wood, or plastic stock.

We could use a few more, modern, generic "coast guard" vessels, I suspect, for the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Americans, etc..

Would love to see some fishing/crabbing vessels produced as well, since they are frequently involved in today's modern skirmishes.

David Manley, that was my first thought as well!

Dave at PTDockard said that he might make a fishing boat in 1/700
Otherwise one of the Pit Road Japanese FAC kits comes with 2 small fishing boats
Another option is the harbour vessels by Hasewaga – some might make for something suitable