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Australian officials board Interpol-wanted poaching vessel

Xinhua, February 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

An illegal fishing boat wanted by Interpol has been boarded by Australian Maritime officials, the federal government announced on Friday.

The Kunlun had been illegally taking Patagonian toothfish from Antarctic waters and had been chased for a week by the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd when it was found in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone near Antarctica.

Australian Customs officials located and intercepted the ship near the Cocos Islands, south-west of Indonesia on Thursday, six weeks after it was first spotted operating in the Southern Ocean by the New Zealand Navy.

Senator Richard Colbeck, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) the vessel had lied about being flagged to Equatorial Guinea.

"Equatorial Guinea told us they weren't flagged and under international law we can board a vessel on the high seas so that's what we've done," he said.

Sea Shepherd suspected the Kunlun, which has a long history of illegal fishing activity, was en route to Southeast Asia to offload its catch.

Peter Hammarstedt, captain of the Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker, praised the officials for boarding the boat.

"We certainly applaud the actions of the Australian government in finally taking action against illegal fishing in the southern ocean and boarding the Kunlun," he said.

However he objected to Senator Colbeck's statement that because the boarding took place on the high seas, the boat's crew could not be arrested.

"Australia has every right to arrest this poaching vessel and we now expect to see it brought to the nearest Australian port to see justice done," Hammarstedt said.

On Jan. 13, following a request by the New Zealand government, three poaching vessels including the Kunlun vessel were issued with Interpol Purple Notices for suspected illegal fishing activity and related crimes.

According to the Interpol, the three illegal fishing ships are ostensibly owned by shell companies in Central America, under listings that reveal nothing about the "true beneficial owners" of the vessels.

Australia will continue to monitor the Kunlun as it travels north. Endi