Marine and Fisheries Ministry Detains Illegal Foreign-Flagged Vessels From Philippines and Taiwan in Sulawesi Sea

Jakarta, InfoPublik--Indonesia remained vigilant in eradicating illegal fishers in its territorial waters. Indonesia's Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry's (KKP) Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision Directorate General made another arrest of illegal foreign vessels operating illegal fishing activities in the fisheries management area of the Republic of Indonesia (WPP-NRI) 716-Sulawesi Sea.

This arrest showed the Ministry's commitment in safeguarding the illegal-fishing prone sectors.

"Today we confirmed the detainment of two foreign illegal vessels consisted of one Philippines-flagged vessel and one Taiwan-flagged vessel. Both were seized in the fisheries management area of the Republic of Indonesia (WPP-NRI) 716-Celebes Sea on Wednesday (22/4) and have been detained at Bitung Marine and Fisheries Surveillance and Control (PSDKP) base for further legal process." said PSDKP Director General, Tb. Haeru Rahayu in Jakarta, Sunday (26/4).

Tb further explained that the arrest was made by Orca 01 Fisheries Supervisory Boat which commanded by Capt. Priyo Kurniawan which wasseizing for illegal fishing activities by foreign-flagged vessels in WPP-NRI 716 Sulawesi Sea. When the boat's radar detected foreign vessels and gained visual contact, Orca 01 halted the fishing activity and detained both vessels.

"FBCA QUADRO OCHO-8888 was detained at 11:25 am local time. The Philippines-flagged vessel was operating hand line capture device and was manned by seven Filipino crew members. FBCA QUADRO OCHO-8888 was captured at 06°24,893'N-127 ° 46,387'E," said Tb.

After detaining the Philippines-flagged vessel, Orca 01 After successfully paralyzing the Philippines-flagged KIA, KP. Orca 01 then pursued Taiwanese flagged vessel.

The Sheng Teng Chun-66 ship was arrested at 2:10 pm. The Taiwan-flagged vessel which operated the long line fishing gear was manned by ten crew members consisting of one Taiwanese citizen and nine Filipino citizens. The ship was captured at coordinates 05°59,840 'N- 127°39,937' E.

Contacted separately, Fleet Monitoring and Operations Director Pung Nugroho Saksono who led the operations command said that the ships had been detected by previous air surveillance.

"Now that we are moving with a more effective operating system, the order for operations was given after a strong indication of illegal fishing. We use an integrated surveillance system," explained Pung.

However, the arrest of Taiwan-flagged vessel took Pung by surprise for his patrol had not been detecting and capturing a Taiwanese-flagged ship for a long time in WPP-NRI 716 Sulawesi Sea.

"This certainly increases our vigilance, because many illegal fishers take advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak. We have instructed the entire supervisory ships to remain vigilant," Pung concluded.

The recent arrest of 2 illegal fishing vessels has added to the list of 32 illegal foreign fishing vessels arrested during the six months of Edhy Prabowo's leadership at the Marine and Fisheries Ministry. The 32 illegal vessels consisted of 15 Vietnamese-flagged ships, 8 Philippine-flagged ships, 8 Malaysian-flagged ships and 1 Taiwan-flagged ship.
(Reporter: Baheramsyah, Translator: Penny P. Rusman)