RI navy frees Taiwanese captain

RI navy frees Taiwanese captain

TAIWAN: The Indonesian navy has boarded a missing Taiwanese fishing trawler thought to have been taken over by a mutinous crew and found its Taiwanese captain was safe, the island's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

The Indonesian navy intercepted and boarded the Chiliwang in Indonesian territorial waters at 0000 GMT Saturday and confirmed Captain Lin Chung-wo had suffered no harm, the ministry said in a news release.

The ministry didn't elaborate about the situation on board but said the Chiliwang had lost contact with its home base in Taiwan's southern Pingtung region on Sept. 8. On board were the captain and a crew of eight Filipinos and three Indonesians.

After the ship's disappearance, its owner had told the authorities about tension between the captain and the crew members from the Philippines, suggesting the possibility that the crew had taken control of the vessel, the ministry said.

Taiwan had alerted Indonesia about the likely presence of the ship in its waters, the statement said.

According to the ministry, the Chiliwang would arrive in the Indonesian harbor of Tanjung Priok near Jakarta on Sunday. -- AP