Navy destroys 3 Vietnamese ships

The Jakarta Post, Tarempa, Riau Islands, Friday December 05 2014


The Indonesian Navy destroyed three Vietnamese boats on Friday for illegally fishing in Tanjung Pedas waters near Siantan Island, Anambas Islands regency, Riau Islands.

The three ships, which were caught by the Navy on Nov. 2, were shot by two government boats from distance, and then exploded alternately to speed up the sinking.

The explosive materials were attached by Navy elite force Kopaska.

Dozens of journalists, as well as high-ranking officers from the Navy and officials from the Maritime Security Coordinating Body (Bakorkamla), and the Anambas Islands administration, also witnessed the sinking from three warships, namely KRI Todak, KRI Barakuda and KRI Sultan Hasanuddin.

"We exploded the ships after the Ranai District Court declared that the ships should be seized and subject to legal destruction," said Rear Admiral Widodo, the Commander of the Navy's Western Fleet Command.

According to Admiral Widodo, the ships were caught by Navy warship KRI Imam Bonjol while sailing near Tanjung Pedas.

"KRI Imam Bonjol was on a regular patrol operation when it noticed peculiarities with these three ships," he said.

"The crews were not able to show proper documents, so our officers apprehended them and took them to the naval base in Tarempa," Widodo added.

Thirty-three people, all of them foreigners, had been arrested and were now detained at the Tarempa Naval Base, he added.

Around three tonnes of fish in the ships were also seized and auctioned. "The money we got from the auction was used to buy food for the detainees," Widodo said.

The Tarempa Prosecutors' Office, however, said that it had been formally notified by Navy investigators that only three men were being processed.

The three suspects had been arrested and charged for failing to comply with fishing regulations, a prosecutor said. "They also used trawls, which are not allowed here," he said.

Bakorkamla Executive Chairman Vice Admiral Dessi Albert Mamahit, meanwhile, said the number of arrested ships could have been more.

"We must admit that sometimes they manage to flee. We do have a number of shortcomings," he said



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