One of the leading Vietnamese companies, PetroVietnam, accused Chinese fishing boats of cutting the subsea cable that the seismic survey ship positioned in the South China Sea, Maritime-Executive reports.
The vessel Binh Minh 2 positioned the cable off the coast of central Vietnam last Friday, after which the accident happened.
This adds to already high tensions over Beijing’s disputed territorial claims.
China is in conflict with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines over the South China Sea waters.
PetroVietnam asked China to educate its citizens to respect Vietnamese waters, because this is the second time that Chinese fishing boats have damaged the cables set by Vietnamese ships.
[mappress]
Subsea World News Staff , December 04, 2012; Image: PTSC