As many as 24 Filipino fishers operating two vessels have been apprehended by Indonesian authorities after they were caught fishing illegally in waters near to the North Maluku province.
Authorities seized the first vessel, the KM Tuna Mandiri, and its 12 crewmembers on 18 December, finding on board 300 tuna fish, 24 small boats, 48 fishing tools, a GPS unit and two radio units, reported the Manilla Bulletin. The second vessel, KM Johnny II, was boarded by police the following day in the Halmahera Sea; authorities discovered 25 tuna fish and other similar items on board the vessel, and took its 12 crewmembers into custody.
The KM Johnny II sailed with the Indonesian flag, thus authorities assumed the vessel to be Filipino-owned. The seizure of the two vessels comes over a year after “the Philippines and Indonesia formally agreed to pursue discussions on a possible negotiation regarding their overlapping continental shelves,” according to the Manilla Bulletin.
The KM Johnny II weighs in at 15 gross tons, while the KM Tuna Mandiri is 29 gross tons.
