President To Make FV Viking Monument Of Illegal Fishing

Jakarta (Antara Bali)- Half of FV Viking would be sunk while the other half would be turned into a monument to serve as a reminder of the fight against illegal fishing activities, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

"Half of FV Viking will be sunk in Pangandaran to be made into a monument against illegal fishing - Jkw," President Jokowi tweeted on his Twitter account @jokowi on Monday morning.

"For years, 13 countries had been on the lookout for FV Viking, a ship that had poached fish in several countries. Indonesia has managed to catch it - Jkw," he noted.

The Indonesian authorities have planned to destroy part of the ship in the waters of Pangandaran in West Java on Monday (Mar. 14) at 11 a.m. local time.

A ceremony for the destruction of FV Viking was scheduled to be held at the Susi Air Beach Strip.

President Jokowi and ambassadors of Norway, the United States, and Australia had initially planned to be present during the ceremony, but the plan was cancelled.

Earlier, Minister of Marine and Fishery Affairs Susi Pudjiastuti had revealed that according to the Norwegian Interpol, the fugitive vessel had changed its name 13 times and had used 12 different flags, thus the ship was designated as a stateless vessel.

The FV Viking vessel had allegedly violated some international laws and conventions and committed fraud by conducting illegal fishing practices.

The vessel was intercepted by a joint Navy team in the waters of Tanjung Berakit of Bintan District of Riau Islands Province on Thursday (Feb. 25).

Commander of the Naval base Lantamal IV/Tanjung Pinang Marine Colonel (P) S. Irawan stated that the Navy's Warship KRI Sultan Toha Saifuddin-376 and a Helicopter Bolco NP 408 were deployed as part of the operations.

The authorities arrested eleven crew members of the ship belonging to countries, such as Myanmar, Argentina, Peru, and Indonesia.

The boss or head of FV Viking was identified as a Burmese, Irawan added. (WDY)