Probe on foreign vessels

The National Main Stories
The Japanese fishing boat mv Tokiwa Maru – Pictures supplied

By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
TWO foreign fishing vessels and a fuel tanker caught bunkering in seas off Manus were escorted to a local harbour by a PNG Navy boat for investigation by local authorities last week.
The Japanese fishing vessels mv Tokiwa Maru and mv Genpuka Maru had 27 and 24 crew members respectively.
The fuel tanker mv New Smile had 23 crew members.
The 74 crew members were held on their boats at Manus’ Seeadler Harbour in Manus.
The PNGHMS Ted Diro which was on patrol in waters about 40 miles north of Lorengau town on Monday Aug 24 came across the foreign vessels and escorted them to Manus.

PNGHMS Ted Diro. – Pictures supplied

Defence Force Chief of Staff Captain Philip Polewara told The National yesterday that the vessels and the tanker were brought to Seeadler Harbour and detained for “bunkering” – a manoeuvre that allowed vessels to exchange fuel – without the approval of the National Fisheries Authority.
Capt Polewara said the two fishing vessels were allowed to leave at 5.10 pm yesterday.
But the fuel tanker captain and crew are still detained at Seeadler Harbour for investigation.
Manus police commander Chief Insp David Yapu said the three ship captains were detained on the PNGHMS Ted Diro.
“The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) officers, police, customs, quarantine, and health teams inspected the vessels,” Insp Yapu said.
He said the Japanese vessels had valid fishing licences.

8 comments

  • Continued outside entry into our politically independent boundary. Government must tighten and strategies our border securities and keep watch over. We are invaded foreigners from all means including drug bust from airways as well as a foreign black vessel just off new Ireland. now is the Japanese foreign vessel without our recognition and authorization. Please government, wake up before our country are exposed exploitation….

    • Mote Sobo is absolutely correct. Papua New Guinea is an independent,sovereign country and we should never let foreign vessels into our waters. it is about time the American and Australian navies got their acts together to exclude foreign ships from our boundaries.

      • Rukus your Comment “Its about time the American and Australian Navies got there acts together to Exclude Foreign Ships from our Boundaries ”
        PNGHMS Ted Diro was donated to PNG Navy Feb 1st 2019 from Australia at a Build cost of $330 Million Australian Dollars. What more would you like from the Australian Navy ?? Crew , Food ,Fuel & Supplies.
        The Retained Vessel actually had a Valid PNG Fishing Licence signed and Approved by PNG Government so your Government had allowed them to Enter PNG Waters so why mention USA and Australia.

  • The other independent nations should recognize us Papua New Guineans as an Independent and Sovereign nation. They should recognize our national boundaries on the land, sea or in the air and there should be no trespassing without the PNG government’s knowledge. It is a national issue that the government should take into consideration. Review the constitution’s international laws and take strict measures and tighten the security so that there could be no intruders entering our country.

  • The foreigners have been doing this for many years ribbing our marine resources due to lack of funding support by government to PNGDF, and the Maritime Surveillance and foreigners are walking away with Billions. Just imagine they have been doing this before independence.

  • While we all know that this is not the first time this has happened, we must also look at the positives. With our limited resources we have managed to catch a few of them thus now highlighting the issues that we currently have.
    The challenge now is we need to invest in our ability to protect and manage our borders, resources, revenue generating streams that we are missing out on due to vessels not registered, revenue generation from permits and the list goes on.

    My two cents

  • Kudos to Captain and the Navy of PNG Defence Force. Its about time you start sinking these illegal vessels in PNG waters. Stealing of our marine resources is criminal.

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