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FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
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ANTARCTIC
AGGRESSION
NEWS
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Justice officials examine land encroachment
LIFE
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Hollywood heads for Phuket movie
Ship wanted for illegal fishing in Antarctic waters seized in Phuket – but now likely to be released Tanyaluk Sakoot reporter2@classactmedia.co.th
A
n Indonesian-registered fishing ship, the Taishan, was seized at Phuket Deep Sea on March 6. Over the following days, a strange and complex tale has emerged. The order for the ship’s arrest came after it emerged that the Taishan
had until very recently been called the Kunlun, which was the subject of pursuits on the high seas by the navies of both Australia and New Zealand, which believe it was one of a fleet of six blacklisted ships fishing illegally in Antarctic waters. The order for the seizure came after Thai Customs had received an Interpol Purple Notice, accusing the Kunlun/Taishan of illegally fishing for
Patagonian toothfish inside an area regulated by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The newly-named Taishan, with 36 crew on board, was boarded by Thai officials when it came into Phuket Deep Sea Port and offloaded a cargo of eight refrigerated containers holding 182 tonnes of fish. The paperwork said that the fish was grouper.
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Anchored in Phuket this week, the Kunlun, now renamed Taishan, earlier evaded Australian and New Zealand warships. Photo: Royal Thai Navy 3rd Fleet
Authorities found that the Peruvian captain of the ship (the rest of the crew were either Spanish or Indonesian) was licensed to command vessels up to 300 tons, whereas the Taishan is 625 tons, and the ship had an unlicensed radio. By that time the containers had already been sent to Songkhla, where they were scheduled to be put on another ship and taken to Vietnam.
SPORT
PAGE 32
Six Nations enters final weekend