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