Chinese vessels detained by Vanuatu, accused of fishing illegally.
Two Chinese fishing vessels have been detained by Vanuatu authorities amid allegations they were fishing illegally in the Pacific nation’s territorial waters.
This is the first time that Chinese vessels have been accused of illegal fishing activities in Vanuatu’s territory, but their confinement comes just a month after Palau detained a Chinese-flagged vessel reportedly illegally harvesting sea cucumber, or beche-de-mer, in the western Pacific state’s territorial waters.
The Dong Gang Xing 13 and Dong Gang Xing 16 were fishing in Vanuatu’s northern waters near the remote Torres islands, authorities alleged.
Vanuatu’s department of fisheries, along with the police maritime wing, and a French naval reconnaissance plane from New Caledonia monitored the ships before they were detained by a Vanuatu patrol boat.
The two fishing vessels berthed briefly in the northern town of Luganville, a few hundred metres from a Chinese-funded wharf that has been the subject of widespread rumours it could serve as a Chinese military base.
The ships were then instructed to sail for Port Vila, where they have been berthed at an unused wharf in the capital.
“The crew on the fishing vessels will be subject to further investigation after undergoing quarantine,” Vanuatu police said in a statement.
In the Palau incident last month, the vessel, six auxiliary boats and 28 crew were intercepted by a patrol boat at Helen Reef, in Palau’s territorial waters, and escorted to the main island of Koror.
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