Indonesian navy blows up foreign boats for poaching fish
The crew were removed from the ship before the vessels were destroyed
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Indonesian navy has sunk two more boats for illegally fishing in its waters as the country's new president puts his hard-line anti-poaching policy into practice.
The vessels were captured earlier this month on the sea border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and have been impounded by the country’s navy since then.
The theft of fish from Indonesian waters is a problem for the maritime nation, which is estimated to lose £15.3bn a year because of the practice.
Indonesia begun to sink foreign ships found illegally fishing in its waters after its new showman centre-left president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo took office three months ago pledging to crack down on the practice.
It is mainly plagued by vessels flying the flags of Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and China.
“The ships have gone through legal procedures at the court in Ambon and their owners were found guilty of stealing fish from Indonesian waters,” a spokesperson for the country’s navy told local newspaper the Jakarta Post.
“We must sink these ships so that other foreign ships will think twice before fishing illegally in our territory.”
62 crew, all Thai, were arrested in the raid on the vessels, which flew the Papua New Guinean flag. The fishing boats were sunk in a controlled manner by Indonesia’s warships.
The country has previously sunk ships flying the Vietnamese flag. There is some debate in the country as to whether it would sink boats belonging to China, the predominant regional power.
The latest vessels will be the fourth and fifth ships sunk by Indonesia since the new policy came into effect.
Indonesia is believed to have captured more than 150 foreign boats. The country’s president says that around 5,000 ships operate illegally in Indonesian waters every day.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments