Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, (ANTARA News) - Two Vietnamese boats suspected of illegally fishing in Natuna have been seized by the Indonesian Navy.

The captain of Bung Tomo-357 navy ship, Col Amrin, told Antara here on Saturday the two Vietnamese ships were seized following a chase when the Navy spotted three ships illegally entering Indonesian waters, around 1.40 pm on Wednesday.

"While patrolling we saw three foreign fishing boats and we tried to drive them away and later caught two of them," he said.

Amrin said he ordered his men to check the two boats -- BV5743TS 40 GT with Tung as its skipper and ten crew and BV0627TS 40 GT with Pung as its skipper and three crewmen on board -- but found no fish. He said he believed the intruders had come for fishing because they were throwing their nets into the water when they were caught.

"The boats carried no documents," he added.

Amrin said the seizure of the foreign boats showed the commitment of the Western Fleet Command to the eradication of illegal activities in the sea.



(H-YH/INE)

Reporter: Nikolas Panama
Editor: Suharto
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