Vietnam People's Coast Guard - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vietnam Marine Police is part of Vietnam People's Navy

Vietnam People's Navy

The Vietnam People's Navy is part of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsible for the protection of national waters, islands, and interests of the maritime economy, as well as for the coordination of maritime police, customs service and the border defense force.-History:Following the Geneva...

and the country's coast guard

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...

service.

In reality, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam does not have a dedicated Coast Guard, but only the Navy for offshore patrol and other military activity, or the Border Patrol Directorate (Bộ Tư Lệnh Biên Phòng), which has checkpoints at the part where the river meets the sea. They are equipped with small boats for short pursuit, and equipment that is meant for short-term security reasons. All river patrol responsibility belongs to Fluvial Police (Cục Cảnh sát giao thông đường thủy - Bureau code:C25) supervised by provincial or/and local police office (Ministry of Public Safety - Bộ Công An), and sometimes is the Vietnam Customs (Hải Quan), depending on the geographical responsibility (fluvial or fresh water only).

The Vietnam Marine Police was originally formed on March 28, 1998, and became independent from the Vietnam People’s Navy on March 1, 2008. It has in-scope intelligence of international exchange and co-operation with its ASEAN counterparts in smuggling and on-sea drug interdiction operations. As an organization keyed to fight against illegal trafficking, it would like to start with a fresh image and equipped with adequate technology and hardware, in order to deploy with efficiency for missions. They would like to present a role model for extended of its projects.

The Vietnam Marine Police is the youngest law enforcement bureau and has inherited a lot of used and obsolete equipment including short-mission patrol boats (3-day mission) and armaments from the Vietnam People’s Navy. As a new and recognized Bureau with its own budget and personnel, the Marine Police staff will seek for extension over the next several years from less than 400 to 1,000 head counts, with much more up-to-date equipment. Later on in 2008, the Vietnam Marine Police has signed two main acquisitions of 4 new patrol boats with COMINT and thermal vision capability, including a tug boat (salvage tug

Salvage tug

A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....

4612 - CSB-9001), and 3 ocean sentry turboprop airplanes CASA C-212 equipped with MSS 6000 systems from the Swedish Space Corporation.

The Vietnam Marine Police is responsible for protecting the security of Vietnam's coast line and deals with problems like:

Drug smuggling
Human trafficking
Industrial radioactive and toxic waste dumping
Maritime law enforcement
Marine assistance
Search and rescue (SAR)
National defense - alongside the Vietnamese People's Navy

In addition to its role, the Vietnam Marine Police has moved their headquarters from Hai Phong to Hanoi

Hanoi

Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

in February 2008, due to current needs to address these tasks. Current headquarters are located at 94 Le Loi Street, Nguyen Trai ward, Ha Dong district, Ha Noi. Their training base and logistic support facilities still remain in Hai Phong.

See also