South Africa intercepts Chinese fishing vessels for unauthorised entry into its waters
They were detected within 12 nautical miles of the KwaZulu-Natal coast and later tracked along the Eastern Cape coastline. * "The vessels repeatedly switched their Automatic Identification System on and off, a violation of South African laws requiring foreign vessels to keep AIS active while transiting national waters," the fisheries ministry said.
- Country:
- South Africa
South Africa has intercepted four Chinese-flagged fishing vessels for unauthorised entry into its territorial waters, its fisheries minister said on Thursday. * Police and fishery control officers placed the vessels, owned by Shenzhen Shuiwan Pelagic Fisheries, under guard at the Port of Cape Town.
* Authorities charged the masters of the vessels and imposed an administrative penalty of 400,000 rand ($24,118). The owner of the vessels paid the fine, and they departed South African waters. * "South Africa will not tolerate the unlawful use of its maritime zones," Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Willie Aucamp said in a statement.
* The vessels initially sought permission on February 23 to pass through South Africa's Exclusive Economic Zone under the right of "innocent passage", the statement said. They later applied for Off-Port Limits (OPL) authorisation without providing the required justification or documentation, a request that was rejected. * Further investigations revealed the vessels had already entered South African territorial waters while the OPL request was under consideration. They were detected within 12 nautical miles of the KwaZulu-Natal coast and later tracked along the Eastern Cape coastline.
* "The vessels repeatedly switched their Automatic Identification System on and off, a violation of South African laws requiring foreign vessels to keep AIS active while transiting national waters," the fisheries ministry said. ($1 = 16.5848 rand)
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