The RTN promptly pursued the two tuna fishing boats today (January 30) after their respective captains failed to comply with Port-In,Port-Out (PIPO) reporting protocol as stipulated by the the new Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).
The VMS tracking and reporting requirements are part of the Thai government’s latest efforts to crack down on IUU fishing practices, which has tainted Thailand's human trafficking and seafood export market record.
The two vessels, which failed to report to one of Phuket’s six PIPO centres, were named as Mook Andaman 018 and Mook Andaman 028, and were initially tracked to a spot about 700 nautical miles from Phuket, before their signals were lost, prompting the Royal Thai Navy to send out sea and air patrols.
The two ships were finally located about 75 nautical miles west of Phuket, where they were apprehended and escorted back to the Phuket Deep Sea Port, arriving by 6pm.
The crew is being detained and the investigation is ongoing, whereas the captain and vessel owner(s) will likely be charged for failing to comply with said regulations.
The RTN will continue to conduct sea and air patrols to monitor various Thai international vessels off Thailand’s southwest coast.
In related news, the RTN Area 3 Command has deployed the HTMS Saiburi, a guided missile frigate based in Phang Nga, to theIndian city of Visakhapatnam for the International Fleet Review 2016 navy event to be held from February 4-8.
Among the officers attending on behalf of the RTN include Admiral Montri Senatikarn.
UPDATE: The captains and crew of the two vessels have been identified as follows:
The Captain of Mook Andaman 028 has been named as Zhou Feng, and Zhuang tian Zhong named as the engineer.