The Navy and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry are set to sink Norway flagged fishing vessel (FV) Viking, an Interpol most wanted Antarctic toothfish fishing vessel, in waters off Pangandaran Beach, West Java, on Monday afternoon.

The Navy dispatched the fishing vessel it arrested in Bintan waters, Riau Islands, on Feb.25, to the southern sea off West Java on Saturday.

The commander of the Navy'€™s fourth region headquarters, Col.S.Irawan, said on Sunday that several war ships were guarding  the vessel, which headed for the south coast on Saturday.

'€œIt is planned that the vessel will be sunk on Monday. The vessel departed on Saturday morning,'€ Irawan told journalists. He said illegal fishing prevention task force Satgas 115 would lead the sinking.

Earlier, Rear Adm.Taufiqurrahman, commander of the western region, said the vessel was reported for illegal fishing, especially toothfish, a deep sea fish categorized as an internationally protected species, across the Pacific Ocean.  

'€œWe arrested the vessel in Bintan when it dropped anchor because it required maintenance. No crew member resisted arrest,'€ Taufiq told thejakartapost.com, when visiting the vessel at the Navy headquarters in Mentigi, Tanjung Uban, Bintan, on Feb.29.

Taufiq said the Navy apprehended the vessel based on an Interpol Purple Notice it received on Feb.24. A fisheries conservation organization based in Norway and the Norwegian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry reported the vessel and several others of alleged illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities. The vessel was also reported for allegedly aiding human trafficking.

'€œThis vessel caught toothfish, a deep sea fish species. They usually operated in areas around the Pacific and Antarctic oceans and sold their catches in Cape Town and Australia. When we received a report that this vessel was in Indonesian territory, we traced it manually because the vessel'€™s radar system was turned off. We were able to identify the vessel and arrest it,'€ said Taufiq.

The Navy arrested 11 crew members, comprising Argentinians, Myanmarese, Peruvians and Indonesians, during the raid, which involved a Bolco NP 408 helicopter and war ship KRI Sultan Toha Saifuddin 376, on Feb 25. The vessel was then taken to the Navy headquarters.

Agus Subianto, 35, the vessel'€™s engine room head, said he was recruited via an agent in 2013.

'€œI recieved a monthly salary of US$400 and I returned to Indonesia only twice during my time  as a crew member,'€ said Agus, one of the vessel'€™s Indonesian crew members.

He said the vessel caught more than 500 tons of fish each time it went fishing. The vessel'€™s cold storage facility was not functioning when it was arrested, forcing the crew members to throw out 50 tons of fish.

'€œI didn'€™t know that this fish was a protected species. I was just working on the vessel,'€ said Agus, a resident of Brebes, Central Java.

The vessel is a member of an outlaw fleet of Southern Ocean high sea poachers, called the Bandit Six. Two other vessels, namely the Thunder and Kunlun, were arrested on Dec.17, 2014 and Feb.9, 2016, respectively. Meanwhile, the three remaining vessels, the Yongding, Songhua and Perlon, were arrested by the Australia navy and New Zealand sea authorities on Feb.2, 2015.

Like other members of the Bandit Six, the FV Viking used fake names and flags. This vessel was recorded to have changed its name 12 times, flag 13 times and call sign eight times, categorizing it as a stateless vessel. (ebf)(+)

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