The Taiwanese government has declared Indonesian waters a "highly dangerous zone" after an attack on a Taiwanese boat by pirates or the boat's Indonesian crew, a local newspaper reported last week.
"Since last year, Indonesian pirates have been targeting Taiwan fishing boats, so Taiwan fishing boats should keep away from Indonesian waters," the Fisheries Administration was quoted as saying in the report.
There are about 600 Taiwanese fishing vessels catching tuna in Indonesian waters, but they can move to other fishing grounds like the Marshall Islands, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, the paper said.
The Taiwan Fisheries Administration issued the warning because several Taiwanese boats have been attacked in Indonesian waters. The latest case was the High Aim No. 6, which left Taiwan Oct. 31st but was found drifting without crew off West Australia on Jan. 6th. The 65-ton, 20-m boat carried Taiwanese captain Chen Tai-cheng and chief engineer Lin Chung-li and a 10-person Indonesian crew. The last call Lin made to his family on his mobile phone was on Nov. 16th.