KRI Pattimura Intercepts Illegal Ship in Natuna Waters
24 April 2015 07:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru – KRI Pattimura 371, an Indonesian warship under the Navy’s Western Fleet Command (Koarmabar), intercepted an illegal, Vietnam-flagged motor vessel KM BTH 99153 on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.
Koarmabar information division chief Lt. Col. Arirris Miftachurrahman said Navy personnel stopped the ship some 30 nautical miles off Tanjung Datu Melintang, adjacent to the Indonesia-Malaysia border.
“[The ship] is suspected of committing illegal fishing,” he said in a release sent to journalists on Thursday, April 23, 2015.
Arirris said KRI Pattimura 371 was patrolling the Natuna Sea before intercepting the ship, which weighed 35 gross tonnages (GT), and arrested six crewmembers along with their captain, Nam, onboard.
“The ship contained various fish weighing a ton,” he said, adding that the ship was also sailing without proper documents.
The ship and the seized evidence have been taken to the Pontianak Naval Base (Lanal) for further investigation.
RIYAN NOFITRA