T

he Navy and the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry sank on Monday the notorious FV Viking, an Interpol most-wanted Antarctic toothfish fishing vessel and the last of the '€œBandit 6'€ poachers, in the waters off Pangandaran Beach, West Java.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said that the sinking was a part of the government'€™s commitment to turn Indonesia into a global maritime axis.

'€œIndonesia has become the resting place for the FV Viking. The sinking is the Indonesian government'€™s contribution as part of being a global citizen in fighting illegal fishing,'€ she said.

The stateless vessel was on Interpol'€™s purple-notice list for illegal fishing, especially toothfish, a deep-sea fish categorized as an internationally protected species, across the Pacific Ocean. The FV Viking has changed its name on 13 occasions, changed its flags on 12 occasions and changed its call-sign on eight occasions.

'€œThis ship is a stateless vessel that has long conducted illegal fishing in various parts of the world. This ship is categorized by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) as an outlaw vessel,'€ she said.

After being pursued by the Interpol for years, the fishing vessel was finally arrested in Bintan waters, Riau Islands, on Feb. 26.

'€œThis vessel entered Indonesia without fulfilling its obligation to report its identity and submit its sailing record as stipulated by Article 193 Item 2 of Law No. 17/2008 on sailing and Article 14 of government regulation [PP] No. 5/2010 on navigation,'€ she said.

Such a violation might lead to a maximum one year imprisonment and Rp 200 million (US$15,331) in fines, according to Susi.

'€œFurthermore, the vessel is operating in Indonesian waters without a fishing permit document [SIPI]. This is a violation of Article 27 Item 3 of Law No. 31/2004 on fishing. This violation carries a maximum prison term of six years and a fine of Rp 20 billion,'€ she said.

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

The ship'€™s 11 crew members '€” three foreigners from Argentina, Chile, Myanmar, two from Peru and six Indonesians '€” will be charged with violating the Law on Shipping and the Law on Fisheries.

During the arrest, Susi said that the Navy had also found a gillnet, a wall of netting that hangs in the water column, with a total length of 399 kilometers.

'€œThese nets will clearly disrupt and destroy fish resources and violate the ministry'€™s regulation on fishing routes and placements, where gillnets can only be used if its length is less than 2.5 kilometers,'€ she said.

Officials also found incriminating documents on board, Susi added.

'€œFrom the documents, it was discovered that the fish caught in its operations were often dropped in Thailand. Other documents also showed that the vessel repeatedly restocked equipment as well as had repairs in Singapore,'€ she said. '€œThe FV Viking also has connections with fishing companies in Spain.'€

Mas Achmad Santosa, the head of the task force for the prevention and eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, meanwhile, said that the investigation of the vessel was being backed up by the National Police.

'€œWe are hoping that the culprit can be found soon. By working with multilateral investigative support, we will keep digging into the modus operandi of this fisheries crime,'€ he said.

Since the government began its war on illegal fishing last year, Indonesia has destroyed more than 120 foreign fishing boats.

The Navy is permitted by law to sink foreign vessels caught operating illegally in the country'€™s territorial waters if it has sufficient preliminary evidence.