Tag Archives: South China Sea

Five men and the sea: Huge marlin sinks Philippine fishing boat

Like a modern-day take on “The Old Man and the Sea,” five Filipino fishermen were cast adrift for days on a makeshift raft after a huge marlin sank their boat. The men were fishing in the South China Sea when a 6-foot-long (1.8-meter) marlin punctured their boat’s wooden hull with its giant bill, vessel master Jimmy Batiller said on Wednesday. Their 12-meter boat quickly dipped beneath the waves in the early evening of Oct. 3, leaving the crew with little drinking water or food until their rescue by the U.S. Navy on Monday. >click to read<13:27

China Trains ‘Fishing Militia’ To Sail Into Disputed Waters

The fishing fleet based in this tiny port town on Hainan island is getting everything from military training and subsidies to even fuel and ice as China creates an increasingly sophisticated fishing militia to sail into the disputed South China Sea. The training and support includes exercises at sea and requests to fishermen to gather information on foreign vessels, provincial government officials, regional diplomats and fishing company executives said in recent interviews. “The maritime militia is expanding because of the country’s need for it, and because of the desire of the fishermen to engage in national service, protecting our country’s interests,” said an advisor to the Hainan government who did not want to be named. Read the story here  13:28