RI vessel rammed off Australia

RI vessel rammed off Australia

CANBERRA (AP): An Indonesian fishing boat was rammed
accidentally and sunk yesterday by an Australian navy patrol boat
after being caught fishing illegally in Australia's northern
waters.

Five Indonesian crewmen and two members of a navy boarding
party were rescued unharmed from the water by the HMAS Cessnock,
a navy spokesman said.

He said two Indonesian fishing boats had been intercepted and
successfully boarded Tuesday after they were caught fishing
illegally within the Australian Fishing Zone.

"At around 1:30 a.m. on July 22, Cessnock was leading the two
fishing boats to Darwin," the spokesman said.

"But because her minimum speed was greater than the top speed
of the foreign fishing vessels, she needed to reverse course to
circle around the boats every two hours or so.

"During one of the maneuvers, the trailing fishing boat
apparently swerved off course and crossed the bow of Cessnock. A
collision was unavoidable despite evasive action taken by
Cessnock."

Wednesday's incident follows criticism of the defense force
for being too lenient on Indonesian fishing vessels after another
intruder led HMAS Cessnock on a 500 kilometer chase earlier this
month.

Despite shots fired across the bow and the two vessels
colliding without damage, the fishing boat escaped into
Indonesian waters.