KKP Again Freezes Illegal Foreign Fishing Vessels With Philippine Flags In The Sulawesi Sea

Illustration. (Photo: KKP)

JAKARTA - The alacrity in tackling illegal fishing practices in the State Fisheries Management Area of the Republic of Indonesia (WPP-NRI) was again shown by the Directorate General PSDKP-KKP Fishery Supervisory Ship. As if they don't want to be careless with the practice of 'cat-and-mouse' carried out by Foreign Fishing Vessels (KIA) in the border area, the KKP Supervisory Ship again paralyzes Illegal KIA with the Philippine flag who is carrying out fishing theft in WPP 716 Sulawesi Sea.

"Today we confirm the arrest of 1 KIA with the Philippine flag who was arrested at WPP-NRI 716 Sulawesi Sea on Friday, May 8 at 11.35 WITA. The KIA is already at the PSDKP Base in Bitung for further legal proceedings," said the Director General of Marine Resources Supervision. and Fisheries, Tb Haeru Rahayu in his written statement, Tuesday 12 May.

The arrested KIA is known as FBca CANTHER JHON who operates a handline tuna fishing gear and is manned by eight Filipino crew. The KIA was captured at the coordinate position 06 ° 24.401 'North Latitude - 127 ° 40.329' East Longitude. The arrest operation was carried out by KP Orca 01 led by Capt. Priyo Kurniawan.

The arrest of KIA shows that the performance of the Integrated Surveillance System (ISS) is getting better. The combination of conventional surveillance practices with vulnerability analysis using modern instruments and technology has produced good results, one of which is the arrest of MCH.

"This is one result of our 'modernization' of the surveillance system. Currently, operations are designed to be effective and efficient by using adequate monitoring data," Haeru explained.

He explained that at this time the KIA was at the PSDKP Base in Bitung to undergo further legal proceedings. He also added that all crew members had been handled in accordance with the procedures and protocols for handling COVID-19 as an anticipatory step and an effort to minimize risks.

"Our officers in the field have coordinated with the Bitung City Port Health Office to carry out a series of health tests in the context of preventing COVID-19. This is important to do to anticipate and prevent the spread of COVID-19," he explained.

In more detail regarding the arrest of KIA, the Director of Fleet Monitoring and Operations, Pung Nugroho Saksono explained that the KIA arrest was the result of an air surveillance operation after previously mapping targets through Radarsat data which was also overlaid with VMS and AIS data. .

"Hazard mapping has been carried out to determine the activity of illegal vessels in the Sulawesi Sea. Based on the results of the mapping, we provide motion instructions to the Supervisory Vessels so that the intercept process can run effectively," explained Ipung.

Pung also explained that one of the challenges in the border arrest process was the KIA modus operandi which often tricked the authorities by being outside the Indonesian border when the Supervisory Ship was on patrol. This is also done by FBca CANTHER JHON, which is designed as a fishing vessel that usually moves mobile from one FAD to another.

"This is typical of ships that are very effective in catching tuna, the size is not too big and the movement is very mobile. We should not underestimate the small size because these ships are usually escorted by large container ships waiting near the border," said Ipung. .

With the arrest of 1 KIA, 33 illegal KIAs have been arrested during Edhy Prabowo's leadership period at the KKP. The 33 illegal KIAs consisted of 15 Vietnamese-flagged vessels, 9 Philippine-flagged vessels, 8 Malaysian-flagged vessels and 1 Taiwan-flagged ship.