Thruvananthapuram: Around 10 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested by British vessel Grampien Endurance were brought to Vizhinjam by Indian Coast Guard ships today morning around 10 am.
The crew is reported to be medically examined, interrogated by concerned agencies and handed over to the Fisheries Department for safe passage to Tamil Nadu.
Around 10 Tamil Nadu fishermen who ventured into deep sea fishing, around 230 nautical miles near the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in the Indian Ocean were apprehended on 06 Dec 2023. They were apprehended by BIOT’s Senior Fisheries Protection Officer from BIOT’s Marine Protection Area where fishing is illegal.
This was reported to govt of India by ‘India and Indian Ocean Directorate of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’, on 14 Dec 2023.
(BIOT is an archipelago of 58 islands covering some 640,000 sq km of ocean, is a British Overseas Territory. It is administered from India and Indian Ocean Directorate London and is located approximately halfway between East Africa and Indonesia.)
The arrested fishermen were tried at BIOT and master of vessel was fined 60,000 British pounds. They have been given 30 days with effect from Dec 12, 2023 to pay the fine. The vessel was detained and 10 crew were repatriated by BIOT patrol vessel Grampien Endurance.
Indian Coast Guard ships Arnavesh and C 427, received the fishermen at sea and brought them to Vizhinjam by 10 am today.
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