Indonesia detains Vietnamese boat carrying two tonnes of fish, operating illegally on edge of South China Sea

Trawler with nine crew tossed fishing nets and other incriminating equipment overboard and set a tyre alight hoping the smoke would throw off their pursuers

Last week, Indonesia said it had detained two Vietnamese vessels in the same area after a high-seas brawl with dozens of crew desperate to avoid arrest

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Indonesia, the world’s biggest archipelago nation, says illegal fishing costs its economy billions of dollars annually. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:16pm, 29 Jul 2020Updated: 12:10am, 30 Jul 2020

Indonesia has detained a Vietnamese boat carrying two tonnes of fish that was operating illegally in its waters, officials said on Wednesday, just a week after a similar high-seas pursuit.

The trawler with nine crew tossed fishing nets and other incriminating equipment overboard and then set a tyre alight in the hopes that the smoke would throw off their pursuers, Indonesian maritime authorities said.

The vessel then slammed into an Indonesian coastguard ship and a passing commercial boat in its failed bid to escape, they added.

An Indonesian coastguard ship next to a Vietnamese fishing vessel. Photo: AFP

“We fired a water cannon at the boat to stop it as it tried to get away,” said coastguard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita, adding that authorities seized two tonnes of fish being stored on board.

The incident happened on Sunday near Indonesia’s Natuna islands at the edge of the South China Sea but was only made public on Wednesday.