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.