RI NAVY DETAINS THREE VIETNAMESE FISHING BOATS FOR POACHING

Jakarta, Oct 6 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Navy has impounded three Vietnamese fishing vessels for poaching in Indonesian waters in Riau Islands, the Navy headquarters said here on Monday.

"The three fishing boats which were flying the Vietnamese flag are now being detained at the Ranai naval base in Riau Islands," Navy Headquarters spokesman Commodore Iskandar Sitompul said.

He said the three Vietnamese boats were intercepted by the Navy's "KRI Imam Bonjol-383" in Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The three Vietnamese boats were named MV (motot vessel) KG 90058 TS, MV KG 91362 TS and MV 90676 TS. They were stopped for using trawls and lacking the required fishing documents.

"By stopping them, the Navy prevented the state from suffering a total loss of Rp500 million," Iskandar said.

The three boats were skippered by Than Liem, Lam Van Tu and Ta Minh Tri Chu and had a combined crew of 45.

In the meantime, the district court of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, was currently handling the cases of five Vietnamese fishing boats which were caught by the Navy some time ago.

The five Vietnamese vessels were the MV KG 1735 TS, MV KG 91408 TS, MV KG 90212 TS, MV KG 90055 TS and MV KG 90433 TS.

The prosecution in the Pontianak court trials had demanded the payment of a fine of Rp500 million in each of the five cases.