Police in An Giang Province have charged and detained a fishing boat captain accused of organising the illegal departure of 13 Vietnamese fishermen to fish in Indonesian waters.
The An Giang Province Police Investigation Security Agency said on July 17 that Ngo Binh Dang, born in 1993 and a resident of Binh An Commune, had been prosecuted and placed in pre-trial detention on charges of organising the illegal exit of others from Vietnam.
According to investigators, the case emerged after Indonesian authorities repatriated 14 Vietnamese fishermen who had completed prison sentences for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. An Indonesian court fined each of them 40 million Indonesian rupiah and sentenced them to between four and six months in prison.
An investigation by Vietnam's National Boundary Commission found that fishing vessel KG-93682-TS was operating in waters near the maritime boundary between Malaysia and Indonesia when it was intercepted.
Ngo Binh Dang, the vessel's captain, had departed from Tac Cau Fishing Port in Binh An Commune, An Giang Province, with 16 crew members to catch seafood. After poor catches in waters off Ca Mau, investigators said Dang steered the vessel into Indonesian waters with 13 fishermen on board, where it was detected and detained by Indonesian authorities.
Dang was fined 40 million Indonesian rupiah by an Indonesian court, while the 13 fishermen travelling with him received prison sentences ranging from four to six months before being handed back to Vietnamese authorities.
During questioning, Dang admitted organising the fishermen's illegal departure to fish in Indonesian waters, investigators said. Police said they were continuing to gather evidence before proceeding with the case.
Authorities said the prosecution forms part of Vietnam's broader crackdown on illegal fishing in foreign waters as the country seeks to implement recommendations from the European Commission on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
In recent years, An Giang Province and other coastal localities have stepped up inspections of fishing vessels entering and leaving ports, tightened monitoring of vessel tracking systems and intensified action against brokers and organisers involved in sending fishing boats across maritime boundaries illegally. The measures are intended to help Vietnam secure the removal of the European Commission's "yellow card" warning on its seafood exports.
