First asylum seeker vessel in one year spotted off Australia
Xinhua, July 20, 2015 Adjust font size:
A refugee boat carrying an unknown number of asylum seekers was spotted off the northwest Australian coast on Monday.
The vessel, believed to be carrying people from Vietnam, was first seen by a police boat searching for missing sailors from a downed trawler.
The boat, according to local media reports, was just 70 km off the coast and close to an oil platform.
The refugee vessel is the second to reportedly breach Australia 's strict maritime borders since Australia's Abbott government introduced a "turn back the boats" policy after hundreds arrived before its election.
The latest boat is expected to be intercepted. Endi