Russian-flagged RZ 03 Ship Arrested, Beneficiaries Will Be Charged

Illegal fishing vessels are encouraged to ensnare beneficiaries or intellectual auctors.

DOKUMENTASI KEMENTERIAN KELAUTAN DAN PERIKANAN

Surveillance officers from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries arrested the ship Run Zeng (RZ) 03 in the Arafura Sea, Sunday (19/5/2024). The ship, which was at large, was suspected of being involved in a syndicate of fishing theft, fuel oil smuggling and human slavery.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — After a month of pursuit, the foreign fishing vessel Run Zeng 03 was arrested by surveillance officers Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The Russian-flagged illegal ship was the target of an operation related to a transnational crime syndicate, namely fishing theft in Indonesian waters, fuel oil smuggling and human slavery. The government promised to pursue the perpetrators of this crime down to the beneficiaries of the criminal practice of syndicating foreign vessels with national vessels.

The motor ship Run Zeng (RZ) 03 was captured in the Arafura Sea using the monitoring ship (KP) Paus 01 belonging to the PSDKP-KKP on Sunday (19/5/2024). The 870 gross ton (GT) ship used prohibited fishing gear, namely trawling, with a catch of 30 tons of mixed fish species.

Motor ship (KM) RZ 03 and its captain, WZJ, have now been brought to the PSDKP base in Tual, Maluku. In the initial interrogation, WZJ stated that they departed from their home country in May 2023 and caught fish in Indonesian waters since January 12, 2024. The ship also carried 12 Indonesian crew members and 18 foreign crew members from China.

Also read: Foreign Ship Carrying 150 Tons of Subsidized Fuel and Enslaving 55 Indonesian Citizens

The Acting Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (PSDKP-KKP), Pung Nugroho Saksono, who led the operation to capture the foreign ships, stated that the capture is expected to uncover the underlying crimes of transnational and organized crime involving foreign-national fishing boat syndicates.

"This case will be further investigated. We will focus on the investigation in order to solve the criminal case of fisheries offenses. For offenses outside of fisheries, we will hand them over to the police," said Pung when contacted from Jakarta on Monday (20/5/2024).

ISTIMEWA

Photo of an illegal foreign ship suspected of entering the Arafura Sea in January 2024.

Pung stated that their team has coordinated with the Maluku Regional Police, as well as collaborated with the international police network (Interpol). The success of capturing KM RZ 03 was achieved through cooperation and exchange of information with Australian law enforcement authorities.

In addition to capturing the RZ 03 ship, the Paus 01 surveillance vessel also secured the Y motor ship. The fish carrier vessel from Probolinggo, East Java, which is 157 GT in size, is also suspected of participating in the operationalization of the foreign fishing vessel by distributing food and fuel logistics.

KM RZ 03 and KM Y have been escorted to the Tual PSDKP Base for further inspection.

We will hand over criminal acts outside of fisheries to the police.

The arrest is part of a series of operations to hunt down transnational crime involving two foreign illegal fishing vessels, KM RZ 03 and RZ 05, along with the Indonesian fish carrier, KM MUS. Previously, the PSDKP-KKP supervisory apparatus had also arrested KM MUS on April 16, 2024.

The foreign fishing vessels RZ 03 and RZ 05, each weighing 870 GT, are suspected of transshipping 100 tons of fish to KM MUS, which weighs 289 GT, in mid-April. A total of 100 tonnes of fish is thought to be the result of fishing theft by foreign vessels in Indonesian waters for five days, with types of fish including sea bass, red snapper and white snapper.

DOKUMENTASI PSDKP KKP

The KM Mitra Utama Semesta (MUS) barge contained subsidized diesel fuel. The 289 gross ton vessel was caught supplying 150 tons of subsidized diesel fuel and 55 Indonesian crew members to two illegal foreign ships, the Run Zeng (RZ) 03 and RZ 05.

KM MUS was also suspected of smuggling subsidized fuel to two foreign ships in the middle of the sea. Around 150 metric tons of subsidized diesel fuel were reportedly carried in the hold, with some already supplied to the two foreign ships and some of their partner ships, leaving 9 metric tons in the hold. They also supplied 55 Indonesian crew members to the foreign ships (Kompas.id, 17/4/2024).

Also read: To survive, crew members on foreign ships drink air conditioning drip water

Intellectual auxiliary snare

The case file for the criminal investigation of KM MUS's fisheries offense has been transferred to the Tual District Attorney's Office for further legal proceedings. In addition, an online auction process was carried out for the 110 tons of fish evidence on May 13, 2024 with a auction value of Rp 670 million.

"The submission of the case files regarding the KM MUS also serves as the initial step to uncover the beneficiaries of illegal fishing practices carried out by foreign vessels," said Pung.

Pung additionally stated that the investigation into illegal fishing vessels, KM MUS and KM Y, is aimed to catch the beneficiaries as well. They have identified the operators of these vessels who arrange cooperation with illegal foreign vessels. They have proposed the revocation of the vessel permits for these illegal Indonesian vessels, in addition to criminal sanctions to create a deterrent effect.

"We urge Indonesian fishing vessels not to assist the activities of illegal foreign fishing vessels in stealing fish in Indonesian waters," said Pung.

KOMPAS

An "odd trade" occurred in the Arafura Sea. On Sunday (14/4/2024), the Orca 06 Supervisory Ship belonging to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries caught the KM Mitra Utama Semesta (MUS) in Tual, Maluku.

Director of Violation Handling of PSDKP-KKP, Teuku Elvitrasyah, revealed that from the investigation results, the suspect, the captain of KM MUS, committed a fisheries crime, namely not having sailing approval documents and participated in fishing activities without business permits. Therefore, he is charged under Article 98 and 92 of the Fishing Law as amended in Law Number 6 of 2023 regarding the Establishment of Government Regulation Replacement for the Job Creation Law.

"This process is not yet fully complete because new investigations have implicated field perpetrators. We will then conduct further investigations to capture the intellectual authors," said Teuku in a statement to the press last weekend.

Teuku added that regarding the alleged smuggling of solar fuel and human trafficking, they have already sent a letter to the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri).

Also read: Massive and Systematic Exploitation of Two Foreign Ships in Arafura

Following the coordination between the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police, the Head of the Tual PSDKP Base, Sigit Bintoro, explained that the civil servant investigator team (PPNS) will coordinate with the Maluku Regional Police regarding allegations of illegal fuel cargo transfer and oil and gas-related crimes. The evidence, which is in the form of 150 tons of suspected illegally obtained diesel fuel, is currently being secured at the Tual PSDKP Base.

"We did not seize 150 tons of solar in the fisheries case, as it is not within our authority. Later, we will hand over the solar fuel to the authorized investigator," said Sigit.

DOKUMENTASI PSDKP KKP

The Indonesian fishing vessel KM Mitra Utama Semesta has become evidence seized at the Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision Base (PSDKP) of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Tual, Maluku, on Wednesday (17/4/2024).

Based on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) detection conducted by Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative IOJI, Run Zeng 03 and Run Zeng 05 are Russian-flagged fishing vessels each with a size of 870 gross tons (GT). However, according to data from the International Maritime Organization-Global Integrated Shipping Information System (IMO GISIS), both vessels are owned by DOPK Progress and operated by Donggang Runzeng Ocean Fishing Co. Ltd. Both entities have the same address at 65-1, Donggang Beilu, Donggang Liaoning, China.

From IOJI's initial investigation into the national flag of Run Zeng 03 and Run Zeng 05 and the applicable regulations in Russia, foreign individuals/legal entities can register their ships with The Russian Open Register of Ships (RORS). However, ship owners and/or operators are required to relocate their company domicile to Russia and obtain special status as an international company.

The domicile of the owner and operator of Run Zeng 03 and Run Zeng 05 are still registered in China, indicating that both vessels are not allowed to fly the Russian flag because they do not meet the requirements, which include transferring the domicile of the owner and operator company to Russia.

According to IOJI, if it turns out that the owner and operator company does not fulfill the requirements according to Russian laws and regulations, then the raising of the Russian flag by Run Zeng 03 and Run Zeng 05 can be said to be invalid and the ship is actually without nationality. As a consequence, the two ships can be categorized as stateless vessels or ships without nationality (Kompas.id, 21/4/2024).