Indonesian Navy Captures Vietnamese Fishing Vessel In Natuna Sea, Found 2 Tons Of Mixed Fish

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) on duty at KRI Kerambit-627 caught a Vietnamese-flagged fishing boat.

The ship was arrested for allegedly carrying out illegal fishing activities in the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEEI) in the North Natuna Sea.

The commander of KRI Kerambit-627 Marine Lieutenant Colonel (P) Kurniawan explained that the arrest began when his party was carrying out a naval combat alert operation under the control of the Marine Combat Group (Guspurla) Koarmada I in the ZEEI waters area of the North Natuna Sea, Wednesday, August 11.

"We have received radar contact that a ship is suspected of carrying out illegal fishing activities," said Kurniawan as quoted by Antara, Thursday, August 12.

Kurniawan explained that he ordered the combat role followed by the role of inspection and search, where a state of readiness for KRI Kerambit-627 in the face of possible threats.

"We are pursuing and arresting the suspected ship, after it has been successfully stopped, we will continue to investigate and investigate as well as search the cargo, documents and crew members (ABK)", said Kurniawan.

From the results of the inspection, it was known the identity of the TG 91115 TS vessel, while on AIS it was registered CHONGTHANHB358BA1c, a type of fishing vessel with a Vietnamese flag containing about two tons of mixed fish with Captain Vung and seven crew members.

Based on the results of the investigation, it is suspected that the Vietnamese Fishing Vessel TG 91115 TS committed a violation because it carried out fishing activities in the ZEEI WPPNRI (within the Indonesian Continental Shelf as far as 5 Nm) without official permission from the Indonesian government.

Based on the initial evidence, the Vietnamese fishing vessel TG 91115 TS and its crew were escorted to the Ranai Naval base for further processing and inspection.

Meanwhile, Pangkoarmada I Admiral TNI Arsyad Abdullah emphasized that Koarmada I as the Main Operational Command will continue to carry out sea operations in the context of enforcing sovereignty and law in the seas of Indonesian national jurisdiction, based on the policy of the TNI Commander and the direction and commitment of the Navy Leader Admiral Yudo Margono.