JAKARTA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has seized a foreign fishing vessel flying the Philippine flag, with a gross tonnage of 754 tons, on suspicion of illegal fishing in northern Papua waters, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said Tuesday.
"This vessel is the largest catch in the past decade, both in terms of its size and nets," said Pung Nugroho Saksono, director general of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision at the ministry.
The FV Princess Janice-168 was captured on Monday with 32 Filipino crew members aboard. An inspection found the vessel lacked permits from the Indonesian government and was using a modern purse seine net stretching 1.3 km.
According to Pung, the vessel was capable of hauling up to 400 tons of fish in a single operation, mostly juvenile tuna, causing potential state losses estimated at 189.5 billion rupiah (about 11.66 million U.S. dollars). ■