Antara News, Thursday, April 22, 2010 02:15 WIB
Surabaya (ANTARA News) - Fifty-three fishermen from Thailand have entered Indonesian waters illegally boarding Indonesian-flagged fishing boats.
"We are now holding them at the IX Main Naval Base in Ambon," Indonesian Eastern Fleet Command spokesman Lt Col Toni Syaiful said here on Wednesday.
Some of the Thai fishermen were caught when navy ship Multatuli-561, led by Lt Col Sufenri, was conducting sea security patrol in the waters near Ambon.
The navy ship when inspecting fishing boat KM Samudra Jaya during the patrol discovered 27 of 31 crew on it were Thai. At the time the boat weighing 497 gross tons were carrying 21,000 bales of fish of various species.
The navy ship meanwhile caught 26 other Thai fishermen aboard KM Maribu-8 carrying 70 tons of fish of various species.
"The two fishing boats were seized while passing from the fishing ground to Ambon," he said.
He said the fishing boats violated the rules on foreign employment and for having incomplete documents.
Meanwhile another navy ship KRI Wiratno-879 led by Major Bambang Darmawan had also seized fishing boat KM Sanjaya-61 in Sawu island waters for carrying no fishing license and proper documents.
The Indonesian-flagged ship with 12 crew on board and Kung Toni as its skipper carried one ton of fish of various kinds.
