Mar
22
The Kunlun. (Photo Credit: Sea Shepherd/Jeff Wirth)
Pirate fishing vessel caught with illegal fish for USD 5.6 million
SPAIN
Monday, March 23, 2015, 00:10 (GMT + 9)
The environmental group Sea Shepherd reported that the vessel Kunlun, arrested in Thailand, was transporting fishing resources on board worth approximately USD 5.6 million.
According to the captain of the Sam Simon, belonging to the NGO, Sid Chakravarty: “The situation of the Kunlun is very serious,” the newspaper Faro de Vigo reported.
This ship, which is still retained in Thailand, was declared “stateless”.
It was reported that the crew members said that it had Indonesian flag, and then they clarified that the ship’s flag was the one from Equatorial Guinea.
Anyway, the Kunlun was not recognized by any of the two countries.
Upon being retained, the pirate ship was carrying 35 crew members: four from Galicia, the Peruvian captain and 30 members from Indonesia and from Thailand.
Several sources consulted connect the Kunlun to the company from Ribera, Vidal Armadores.
The Thai authorities who inspected the boat found several irregularities, such as discrepancies between what was in the landing documents –182 tonnes of giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) — and what really was in the eight refrigerated containers unloaded in Phuket harbour –182 tonnes of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides).
In addition, track logs were deleted; and the ship had an unlicensed radio and the captain was able to send up to 300 tonnes on ships, when the Kunlun exceeds 600 tonnes.
As it was reported by the newspaper La Voz de Galicia, the Thai government will escort the pirate ship until mile 201 and will free it after banning it from re-entering the country’s waters.
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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