Boat from Vietnam intercepted as arrivals continue to rise

The boat is believed to be the first to make the journey from Vietnam towards Australia in almost a decade, and is the fifth vessel to be intercepted or make it our shores since September.

An Australian Border Force logo is seen on a Cape-class patrol boat at the Port of Darwin. Picture: AAP

Authorities have confirmed they intercepted a boat carrying three Vietnamese nationals, in what is believed to be the first boat to make the journey from Vietnam towards Australia in almost a decade.

Australian Border Force on Friday said that it had “resolved” what it described as a people-smuggling venture and confirmed that the vessel was intercepted in March.

“All three persons were safely returned to Vietnam in close co-operation with the Vietnamese government,” Border Force said in a brief statement.

It is the latest in a growing list of boats to be intercepted in the past two years and is the fifth vessel to arrive since September.

In that month, a boat carrying 11 people was intercepted at sea with all those on board transferred to Nauru for processing. Another 12 people were then transferred to Nauru in November after a boat, which is believed to have travelled from Indonesia, reached Australian shores undetected. That boat was never found.

In February, dozens of men from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were found on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome on Western Australia’s Kimberley coast. And earlier this month, around 15 people believed to be from China were found near the remote Truscott air base, also in the Kimberley.

The three on board the Vietnam vessel will not be sent to Nauru, with Australia and Vietnam having a longstanding agreement to return those who make the journey back to Vietnam.

In April 2015, a group of around 50 Vietnamese asylum seekers were reportedly intercepted and returned to Vietnam in a major operation involving navy supply ship HMAS Choules. That was, up until now, considered the last people-smuggling attempt out of Vietnam.

The rise in the number of vessels making it to Australia undetected has given rise to fears with Border Force that people-smugglers are investing in faster, more modern boats.