REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MEDAN -- The North Sumatra Police have sunk seven foreign ships conducting illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. Led by North Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Police Rycko Amelza Dahniel, the ships were sunk at the Belawan Port on Saturday (April 1).

Before sinking the ships, local police had conducted live streaming along with Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti who had directed the personnel to sink the ships of fish poachers.

The police have sunk six motor vessels bearing Malaysian flag and on ship with Indonesian flag. The two Malaysian-flagged ships were identified as SLFA 2675 motor vessel led by Captain Zaw, a citizen of Myanmar, seized on December 13, 2015, in the Malaka Strait and the SLFA 4778 motor ship led by Captain Chia Keechan, a Malaysian citizen, detained on February 17, 2016. 

PKFA 3378 motor vessel was the third ship to be confiscated on July 12, 2016, in the Malaka Strait, with a suspect named Tepparak Insorn, a Thai citizen. PKFB 1152 motor ship, the fourth vessel, was seized on July 30, 2016, and a suspect named Chit Soe was arrested.

PKFA 8115 motor vessel was the fifth to be detained on July 30, 2016, in the waters of the Malaka Strait in North Sumatra, and a suspect identified as Moe or Swan, a citizen of Myanmar, was arrested.

KHF 1767 motor vessel, the sixth ship, was seized on August 25, 2016, and a suspect named Ko Kyaw Soe, a Myanmari citizen, was arrested. 

Extra Joss-III motor vessel, bearing the Indonesian flag, was the seventh ship to be seized on July 25, 2016, in the waters of the Malaka Strait, and a suspect named Amiruddin was detained.

Head of Public Relations of the North Sumatra Police Police Commissioner Tima Sari Ginting remarked that the sinking of ships was proof of the criminal act of illegal fishing.

The sinking of ships was intended to have a deterrent effect on foreign fishermen not to commit illegal fishing in the Indonesian waters.

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