Crewman of Chinese boat dies

Crewman of Chinese boat dies

JAKARTA: A crewman on a Chinese fishing boat was killed when a naval ship opened fire on it off the Papua province on Wednesday, a Navy spokesman said on Thursday.

The Navy tried to board the Lau Shin Huan on Wednesday for illegally fishing in Indonesian waters. However, the boat sped away ignoring four warning shots, said First Adm. Sugeng Waluyo.

The boat, laden with 30 tons of fish, was fired on near the island of Dolak on the south coast of Papua.

"One crewman died and another was slightly wounded," Waluyo said. He said no documents were found on the vessel.

The boat was seized and the remaining 24 crew members, all from mainland China, are being detained at the naval base in Papua's coastal town of Merauke, Waluyo said.

"We will bring the leaders to court and extradite their subordinates," the spokesman said. It was not clear whether the crewman died immediately or later in the hospital.

The head of the eastern fleet, Rear Adm. I Wayan Argawa, had said on Wednesday that two of the boat's 25-strong crew were injured.

The Indonesian Navy sank four vessels from the Philippines in the Sulawesi Sea last month. It said the boats tried to escape after being caught fishing illegally but the incident prompted a protest from Manila.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said on Monday the Indonesian government had agreed not to press charges against 49 crew members from the ships and would repatriate them. --AFP