Three fishing trawlers detained

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Navy have seized three Indonesian fishing boats in the eastern waters of Banda Aceh for violating regulations, the Navy's spokesman, First Adm. Franky Kayhatu said.

Kayhatu said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the three motorized vessels were identified as KM Wijaya-843, KM Nalendra Raya Bhakti and KM Mustika Alam-10.

The 215 gross tonnage (GT) KM Wijaya-843 vessel was discovered to be operated by 22 crew members, consisting of three Indonesians and 19 Thais.

"This is not in line with fishing regulations which state that the crew members should be 15 Indonesians and 15 Thais," Kayhatu said, adding that the crew members also used 30 mm fishing nets, instead of 50 mm as required by law.

The 252-GT KM Nalendra RAya Bhakti-51 boat was operated by 19 Indonesians and three Taiwanese, he said, adding that the foreign workers did not have any working permits.

The 100-GT KM Mustika Alam-10 vessel was operated by three Indonesians and 24 Thais, who did not have working permits, he said.

The first two vessels were later detained at the Navy's base in Tual, while the other boat was taken to Sorong, he added. --JP