Warship sinks four foreign fishing vessels

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.