REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM - Indonesian police in Batam used Bisma 8001 patrol boat arresting 61 Vietnamese citizens who were stealing fishes in water of Riau Island. Bisma 8001 patrol boat commander, Sigit N Hidayat said that the Viatnamese citizens used four boats in South China Sea.
"They then entered our territory, 15 kilometers of north of Anambas regency. We arrested them on January 4," Hidayat said on Friday.
Their boats are also equipped with adbanced navigation and radar detector. Each boat has weight gross about 100-160 tonnes and crew. They were brought to Lanal Tarempa due to bad weather and could not be brought to Batam.
According to information of local fisherman, Viatnamese citizens have been operating since September 2013. They also used trawling and damaged marine habitat.
The boats have already come to Batam to get a fishing license. However, Marine Resources and Fisheries (PSDKP) in Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries did not issue it as they doubted about ship completeness.