HAIPHONG, Vietnam (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Sunday he will urge Vietnamese officials to give up their reclamation projects in the South China Sea, making a direct plea after earlier calling for all countries in the Asia-Pacific region to halt the construction of artificial islands.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-defense-sec...-politics.html

HAI PHONG, VIETNAM — The US will provide $18 million to Vietnam to help procure coast guard patrol vessels, a first step in what Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hopes is a growing military relationship between those two countries.

Carter's comments came shortly after he became the first US Secretary of Defense to board a Vietnamese military vessel, a Coast Guard ship in the port of Hai Phong.
The ships in question are from Louisiana-based Metal Shark, which provides a number of patrol boats to the US Coast Guard.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/def...sels/28290871/


http://www.metalsharkboats.com/