The captain and chief engineer of a Taiwanese fishing boat returned to Taiwan on Saturday after being detained in Indonesia for three months over allegations of illegal fishing in that nation’s waters.
Captain Tsai Yun-ming (蔡雲明) and his brother, chief engineer Tsai Yun-Tsung (蔡雲忠), left Jakarta early on Saturday morning and arrived in Kaohsiung the same evening after transiting in Hong Kong, clutching the sculpture of a deity that they had onboard the boat.
Tsai Yun-ming said he paid a fine of about NT$500,000 and the fishing vessel was seized.
The Pingtung-based Jih Lien Tsai No. 16, with the Tsai brothers and six Filipino crew members aboard, was intercepted by the Indonesian navy on Oct. 12, last year, while sailing in waters between the Philippines and Indonesia at 127 degrees, 40 minutes east longitude and of 5 degrees, 45 minutes north latitude.
Indonesian media reported that the vessel was poaching, was not flying its national flag, did not have a fishing permit and had a crew that did not match its crew manifest.
Tsai Yun-ming denied the allegations, saying that the 100kg fish hauls were for the consumption of the crew as the Filipino crew was ready to return home and be replaced.
“Fishing equipment had been stowed away and we were not fishing at the time the boat was intercepted,” Tsai Yun-ming said, but added the Indonesian court did not accept his statement.
Tsai Yun-ming said during their detention, they mostly lived on the boat and could move around freely.
For food, they relied on fish given them by other ships entering the harbor and on vegetables they bought locally, he said.
Tsai Yun-ming said they counted themselves lucky to have so many people extend a helping hand, adding that Taiwanese expatriates living in Indonesia frequently visited them.
Asked about the Taiwanese government’s effort to secure their release, Tsai Yun-ming said it did not seem strong, but added it was a difficult undertaking because “Indonesia does not trust Taiwan” and expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Fisheries Agency.
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