Warship sinks four foreign fishing vessels

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An Indonesian warship, the KRI Untung Suropati, fired on and sank four foreign vessels fishing illegally in Indonesian waters off North Sulawesi, and took into custody their 49 crew members, all Filipinos, for further legal processing.

Rear Admiral I Wayan R. Argawa, chief of the Navy's Eastern Fleet, which is responsible for securing Indonesian waters in the east of the country, said the warship sank the fishing vessels on Monday as they tried to escape, and after they had ignored three warning shots fired by the warship.

"Our patrol ship decided to fire on the rear of the fishing vessels, giving a chance for the crew members to escape before the vessels sank," Argawa said in a statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post in Surabaya, the capital of East Java, on Tuesday.

He added that the crew members of the sunken vessels were still being questioned at the naval base in Belitung, North Sulawesi, and would later be brought to court.

The four ships sunk were the BCA Samy, Mea Sam Pedro, BCA Anaka Dos and BCA Marifel.

Last week, the Eastern Fleet arrested eight foreign ships fishing illegally in Sorong waters off Papua province and confiscated a total of 125 kilograms of tuna.

Argawa insisted that the Navy would act firmly against all those violating the law in Indonesian waters, including vessels engaged in smuggling, piracy and illegal fishing, so as to maintain security throughout Indonesia's territorial waters.

"Like other countries, we will enforce the law in our maritime territory," he said, adding that many Indonesian vessels fishing illegally in the waters of other countries had been burned and their crew members prosecuted.

Argawa acknowledged that the waters in the east of the country were quite prone to illegal fishing by foreign ships. He said that the Navy had captured thousands of foreign ships over the last ten years for illegal fishing.

He added that besides this, the Eastern Fleet had intensified its patrols to curb the rampant smuggling of illegal logs from Maluku and Papua to neighboring countries.