Source: Asian Tribune

A Sri Lankan Fishing Vessel which trespassed into the Indian water near the Tamil Nadu coast has seized by The Indian Coast Guard on Friday night.

The coast guard officers patrolling aboard its Dornier aircraft sighted a Sri Lankan fishing vessel close to the Tamil Nadu Coast. According to a coast guard press release, on seeing the aircraft, the boat, “Dulaj Putha”, started fleeing towards the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

The coast guard staff aboard the dornier alerted the coast guard ship ICGS Vikram, which was patrolling the area. It was diverted to investigate and apprehend the fleeing boat.

The ICGS Vikram after a hot pursuit, which lasted for about four to five hours, apprehended the boat IMUL-A0128 MTR with five Sri Lankans on board.

The boat carried around 300 kg of frozen tuna fish. The boat was equipped with global positioning system and worldwide high frequency communication set.

The incident happens at a time when there is a tuna fishing ban in the area.

“The repeated incidents of Sri Lankan boats fishing in Indian waters close to out coast are a matter of grave concern and definitely pose a threat to national security”, a Coast Guard Officer told Asian Tribune.

On Friday it saw the repatriation of five Sri Lankan fishing boats along with 24 Lankan nationals who were held on similar trespassing charges. The total number of boats apprehended by coast guard during this year so for is 56 along with 184 crew. Of these 56 boats, 28 boats have been sent back to their country of origin and the rest are awaiting repatriation.