JAKARTA - A Vietnamese ship carrying two tons of fish and operating illegally in Indonesian waters has been caught by the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla). There was a chase before the ship was captured. This arrest was made a week after a similar incident occurred in the same area.
During the arrest process, as reported by SCMP, a chase between the Vietnamese ship and Bakamla occurred. This is because the illegal ship had fled at high speed. They also tried to obscure the authorities by burning tires, which caused thick smoke.
The ship's fast speed endangered other ships in front of it. Panicked, a collision almost occurred. Luckily the other boat dodged it.
Because it almost crashed, the Vietnamese ship slowed down and the authorities caught up with it. "We fired water cannons at the ship to stop it when it tried to escape," said Head of Public Relations and Protocol Colonel Bakamla Wisnu Pramandita.
The incident took place on Sunday 26 July near Natuna Island. But the event was only announced on Wednesday 29 July.
A similar incident just happened last week. Indonesian security forces said they had detained two ships also from Vietnam in the same area.
Illegal fishing causes economic losses of up to trillions of rupiah for Indonesia. The losses do not include the cost to stop foreign ships continuing to breach the country's maritime borders.
It should be noted that the southernmost region of the South China Sea is Indonesia's exclusive economic zone. In March, at least Indonesian maritime authorities managed to seize five Vietnamese fishing boats and 70 crew members in the area.
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