JAKARTA: The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has captured four Vietnam-flagged fishing vessels operating in Indonesiaâs Natuna Sea, part of the countryâs exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in Riau Islands province
AKARTA: The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has captured four Vietnam-flagged fishing vessels operating in Indonesia's Natuna Sea, part of the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in Riau Islands province.
Officials onboard the Hiu Macan 001 patrol ship found the vessels and their combined crew of 48 Vietnamese men operating without valid documents on the evening of July 29, according to Asep Burhanuddin, the head of the ministry's marine resources and fisheries surveillance directorate-general (PSDKP).
The vessels caught were the 85-gross ton (GT) KM. BV9619TS with three Vietnamese nationals onboard; another 85 GT ship, the KM. BV9947TS, also with three men onboard; the 20-strong, 90 GT KM. BV8281TS; and the 90 GT KM. BV7282TS along with its 22 crewmen.
'All four vessels were caught fishing in Indonesian fishing grounds without valid permits issued by the Indonesian government,' Asep said in a statement on Friday.
The vessels and all crewmen, he added, had been promptly escorted by the Hiu Macan 001 patrol ship to the PSDKP station in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to undergo examination by civil servant investigators specializing in the fisheries sector. The ships' operators will be tried for allegedly violating Article 93 (2) juncto Article 27 (2) of Law No.45/2009 that amends the 2004 Fisheries Law, and face maximum prison terms of six years and Rp 20 billion (US$1.48 million) in fines.
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