Riau Islands, Batam – On early Saturday, the Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla) detained a Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessel in North Natuna waters, Riau Islands, on suspicion of illegal fishing.
“The Vietnamese-flagged ship was apprehended during regular patrolling of Bakamla’s ship KN Pulau Nipah 321 in North Natuna waters,” said Captain Yuhanes Antara of Bakamla here on Saturday.
He stated that the patrol ship detected the Vietnamese vessel on its radar at three nautical miles within the continental shelf.
“When the KN Pulau Nipah 321 approached, the foreign vessel tried to flee by increasing its speed. The patrol ship’s commander, who became suspicious of their activities, gave the order to pursue the ship “He expanded.
According to preliminary findings, the Vietnamese ship Chuc Thanh 7 has 17 crew members, all of whom are Vietnamese.
The ship was allegedly violating the country’s territorial waters and engaging in illegal fishing.
“The 17 ship crews are being held at KN Pulau Nipah 321, while the Vietnamese vessel is being towed to Batam,” Antara said.
Previously, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) allegedly seized 83 fishing vessels that engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Indonesian waters between January and July 2022.
According to KKP Director-General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision Adin Nurawaluddin, 11 of the 83 vessels were from Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
He stated that Malaysian fishing vessels were apprehended in the Malacca Strait, while a Philippine vessel was apprehended on the border of North Sulawesi and the Philippines, and Vietnamese fishing vessels were apprehended in North Natuna.