Navy arrests foreign fishing boats

SURABAYA: A navy patrol boat of the Eastern Fleet intercepted and apprehended two Taiwanese fishing boats with 1,250 tons of fish in their holds.

Spokesman for the Eastern Fleet Lt. Col. Giri Suroso Trilaksono said in Surabaya on Saturday that the two foreign fishing boats -- MV Sheng Yih No. 803 and MV Dara Putra XVIII -- were caught illegally fishing.

"They were intercepted by Navy patrol boat KRI Hiu No 804 on Nov. 28. MV Sheng, owned by PT Karya Bitung Sejati, was flying the Taiwanese flag and carried 1,200 tons of fish," he said.

MV Sheng had a crew of eight Taiwanese, six Filipinos, and 18 Indonesians.

MV Dara Putra, belonging to PT Dara Putra Perdana, was flying the Indonesian flag but with Ksu Shun Fu, a Taiwanese, at the helm, he said.

The boat, with 50 tons of skipjack in its hold, had a crew of eight Taiwanese and 20 Indonesians.

Both the fishing boats and their crew are now in the custody of the Navy in Manado, North Sulawesi, for further processing. --Antara