Taipei to crack down on criminal crews

Taipei to crack down on criminal crews

TAIWAN: The government said on Tuesday it may bar foreigners with criminal records from working on its fishing boats, after Indonesian crew members on one vessel allegedly killed three Taiwanese fishermen.

The Taiwanese ship, the Chan Cheng Tsung, disappeared after leaving the Pacific island of Guam last month. Indonesian police found it abandoned near the island of Java last week.

A search on Java turned up four Indonesians and two Chinese crew members, but the three Taiwanese on board, including its captain, had disappeared.

Fisheries officials said 30,000 foreigners work on Taiwanese- registered fishing trawlers. About 24,000 of those come from China while the others are from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. --AP