Indonesia to Sink 30 More Units of Unlicebsed Fishing Boat

Pontianak, West Kalimantan (Antara) - A task force of the government will sink 30 more fishing vessels found to have operated illegally in Indonesian waters.

"This will be the first sinking  in 2016. The sinking will take place at once in five different places," director at the Directorate General of Marine and Fisheries Resource Supervision Tyas Budiman said here on Monday.

Tyas said the sinking will take place in Pontianak, West Kalimantan for 8 units all Vietnamese boats; in Bitung, North  Sulawesi for 10 boats including six Philippine boats and four Indonesian boats; in Batam, Riau Islands for  10 units  including 7  Malaysian boats  and three Vietnamese boats ; in Tahuna, North Sulawesi for a Philippine boat, and  in Belawan, North Sumatra for a Malaysian boat.

The sinking process is led by Marine and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti as the commander of the Task Force 115 through live streaming in her office in Jakarta.

"The boats would be exploded at the same time at 10.00 western Indonesian timer," Tyas said.

The sinking will be held in cooperation between the navy , police, the Sea Security Agency , the Attorney General Office  and other related agencies.

The 30 units, will bring the total number to 151 units of  fishing boats to be sunk since October 2014. They include 50  Vietnamese boats, 43 Philippine boats, 21 Thai boats, 20 Malaysian boats, two Papua New Guinean boats, one Chinese boat and 14 units flying Indonesian flag.

The sinking is an execution of a court ruling , Tyas said.

Indonesia  under the present government adopts the tough policy against illegal fishing in a bid to stamp out rampant operation of foreign fishing vessels illegally in Indonesian water.

The government claimed  the country lost hundreds of trillions of rupiahs a year in stolen fish  from its waters.(*)