updates
24 Sep 2019: Thai Navy Intercepts IUU Carrier

(Information Source: Atuna, on Tue Sep 24, 2019)

 

A 3000 M/T Cameroon-flagged carrier vessel in Thai waters off Phuket was detained by local authorities due to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The boat’s crew consisted of eight Thais.   

 

The seizure was announced last week by Vice Admiral Ronnapop Karnjanapan of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command and Director of Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Center (Thai-MECC). 

 

So far, information about the cargo or whether any fish was actually on board at the time of the capture is still unknown. Even though Thailand has no dedicated tuna fleet, smaller vessels do target tongol, a coastal species that are fished in the Andaman sea, the Bay of Benga, and Indonesian waters. 

 

According to Karnjanapan, the boat – later identified as the ‘Uthaiwan’ – entered Thai waters on September 12 without informing the Phuket Marine Office. Furthermore, it had its Automatic Identification System (AIS) turned off, which prevented officers from the Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC) to identify the vessel and verifying its tracks and transshipments at sea. 

 

This contravenes Thailand's regulation, which requires boats to have their AIS to be turned on at all times while in Thai waters, in order to prevent any IUU within the kingdom’s domain. 

 

 

The ‘Uthaiwan’ turned on its AIS on September 13, which allowed authorities at the Phuket Port in-Port- Out control centre (PIPO) to quickly act in order to detain it. 

 

“At 9:45 pm, FMC officer informed Thai-MECC to follow the suspected boat which was previously named ‘Wisdom Sea Reefer’, but on the AIS the boat was named ‘Uthaiwan’,” Karnjanapan explained.

 

The particular managing of the boat’s AIS might suggest that the vessels were involved in illegal transshipment. However, this has not been confirmed. 

 

Since May 2018, the ‘Wisdom Sea Reefer’ has been on the IOTC IUU Vessels List. It shares the same Lloyds-IMO number with the ‘Uthaiwan’, that is 7637527. This is a unique ship identification number assigned by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).  

 

Additionally, the records show that the boat was first built in 1977 and fished under the Honduras flag before it was reflagged to Cameroon. 

 

The IUU vessel was captured a day after its signal was located. 

 

“On Sept 14 (Saturday), at 1:30 am, Thai-MECC and relevant officials together seized the suspected boat, which was a 3,000 gross tonnage fishing boat from Cameroon. As shown in the AIS, the boat was seven miles off Phuket shore,” said Karnjanapan. 

 

He added that the whole crew on board was also arrested. The eight Thais were charged under Section 94 of the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries B.E.2558 (2015), which stipulates that no person shall bring a non-Thai fishing vessel that has undertaken IUU fishing into the Kingdom.

 

The boat is currently at the Phuket Deep Sea Port. 

 

Currently, the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT) is asking the government to loosen the measures implemented since 2015 to put a stop to IUU and on-board slavery in vessels. One of the demands of the NFAT is for the government to allow at-sea crew transfers and transshipments. 

 

 

Copyright © 2017 Kingfisher Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved Sound