Indonesian fishing boat defies Australian navy

Indonesian fishing boat defies Australian navy

SYDNEY, Australia (Agencies): The Australian navy admitted yesterday that an Indonesian fishing boat caught poaching had evaded capture earlier this month by ramming the patrol boat that had given chase and fired shots over its bows.

"I don't think it's worth risking lives over a few fish," the captain of the HMAS Cessnock told reporters when explaining why the Indonesians had not been captured.

Lt. Commander Colin Cooper said that during a 550-kilometer chase lasting 16 hours, the Cessnock had fired on and been rammed three times by the 25-meter wooden fishing boat.

The Cessnock gave up the chase when the fishing boat reached Indonesian waters near the island of Timor.

"We're only talking about fish so we don't want to kill anyone or endanger anyone," Cooper said in a television interview after the incident was first reported in a number of morning newspapers.

Defence Minister Ian McLachlan said the Cessnock had acted appropriately and that other action, such as stopping the boat by opening fire would have been irresponsible.

The Australian warship had been alerted by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority about the presence of the fishing boat about 20 kilometers inside Australia's exclusive fishing zone, 200 kilometers northwest of Darwin late on July 6.

Cooper said that when they found the vessel, he told it by megaphone to stop and prepare for a boarding party.

"We were about 20 yards away on his left side and I saw his bow come towards me. There was a grazing blow (but) I had already started turning away," Cooper said in a newspaper interview.

The boat ignored Cooper's warnings and continued to flee, even after the Cessnock let off warning fire across its path.

"I didn't actually eyeball the (Indonesian) master at all during the incident, he just ignored everything, so we graduated it from a single shot from the rifle ... to 40/60 mm Bofors, which has got considerable blast and noise and when he ignored that, it was fairly clear he was not going to stop."

Australian newspapers said that in rough seas, Cooper and some armed sailors tried to board the fishing boat but several more ramming attempts had made it impossible to board.

By this stage, the two boats were 30 kilometers outside Australian waters and on the high seas. Under the laws of the sea, the Cessnock was allowed to continue the chase because it was in hot pursuit.

The fishing boat rammed the Cessnock once more and eventually the chase ended when the boat reached Indonesian waters.