The United States has provided six more Metal Shark patrol boats for the Vietnam Coast Guard as the two former war foes enhance security cooperation amid China’s rising assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Metal Sharks boats. Photo: US embassy in Hanoi
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This transfer includes six brand-new fast-response Metal Shark boats–capable of reaching up to 35 knots–along with trailers and spare parts estimated to be worth approximately US$12 million.
This was the third handover of Metal Shark patrol boats to the Vietnamese navy. The first batch of six boats was transferred in May 2017 to VCG, Region II, and the second handover of another six boats took place in March 2018.
“This official transfer at Region III Station at Van Phong Bay, the most central territory of Vietnam, is another milestone and evidence of the continued friendship between the US and Vietnam,” Colonel Nguyen Minh Khanh, vice commander of VCG Region III, was quoted by the US embassy as saying in a statement.
Delivering these patrol vessels represents deepening US-Vietnam cooperation in the areas of maritime law enforcement, maritime search and rescue, and maritime humanitarian assistance operations within Vietnam’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.
These patrols boats will assist VCG Region III in costal patrols and law enforcement to combat smuggling, illicit trafficking, piracy and armed robbery against ships, and illegal fishing.
The US embassy, through its Office of Defense Cooperation, coordinates US-Vietnam security cooperation activities on behalf of the US Indo-Pacific Command to advance common defense goals and interests. This cooperation, as agreed upon in the September 2011 Memorandum of Understanding on defense cooperation, includes security assistance and educational exchanges between the US and Vietnamese militaries.
