A Kaohsiung-based fishing company said Sunday that its tuna fishing boat “Tongyi No. 668â€, which was reported missing Jan. 12, is probably on its way to Indonesia or Singapore.
Based on information from the ship's satellite locator, the fishing vessel is likely to have sailed by the British Chagos Islands toward the two Southeast Asian countries, a spokesman for the fishing company said. In addition to asking two deep-sea fishing boats from other fishing corporations to help search for the “Tongyi No. 668â€, the spokesman said his company has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to instruct Taiwan’s representative offices in Indonesia and Singapore to offer needed assistance.
According to the spokesman, the 493-ton fishing vessel with 28 crewmembers aboard lost communications Jan. 12 while fishing about 700 nautical miles off the west coast of the Maldives.