05/05/2020 - 16:05
- Clarín.com
- Society
The two fishing boats captured in the last hours in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) await orders in front of the port of Bahía Blanca. These are the Calvao trawler and the Hong Pu 16 jig, both caught in illegal fishing tasks by the Navy and the Naval Prefecture, between Sunday and Monday.
The crews of the two ships, which arrived on Tuesday at the Bahia estuary, are subjected to the strict protocol established by the entity that administers the maritime station to prevent the entry of people with Covid-19. It includes the approach of a doctor who verifies the state of health of its occupants, as a first measure.
For ten days, in the port of Bahia, tests have been carried out on board fishing vessels that operate from its docks. The work began with the swabbing and clinical examinations of the occupants of the Api VI and Nueva Anita ships and continued with all the ships that renew their crews in this jurisdiction.
On board the Calvao, with the Portuguese flag, there are 33 sailors and a captain of Spanish origin. He left on April 14 from Montevideo, where he planned to return shortly. Aboard the Hong Pu 16 29 crew members travel. They set sail from the Chinese port of Zhoushan, off the East China Sea, last October, before the coronavirus outbreak. Since then. they remain at sea.
Along with the sanitary measures that will determine the final destination of both crews, the Prefecture advances with administrative actions for violation of the Fisheries law. In the case of Calvao, captured on Sunday at 7 in the morning at the height of San Antonio Oeste, a criminal complaint is added for resistance to authority.
"His captain was reluctant to stop the boat and allow boarding by the Prefecture," a source from the force told Clarín about the attempt to flee the place. At the first notice that he was in the Argentine EEZ, the trawler took course to international waters, even with his nets deployed.
The Portuguese-flagged vessel “CALVAO" fished within the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEEA) and was detained
After three hours of persecution , the coast guard Prefect Fique and the patrol boat Bouchard of the Navy managed to encircle and force Calvao to stop his march and lift his fishing gear. Then, the crew of the Prefectural ship approached it and began the infringement procedure.
"The captain mentioned that they were outside the 200 miles, but the documentary evidence that we have allows us to establish that, at least, they made a wrong calculation and they were within that area," Prefect General Fernando Santucci, director, told Radio Bahía Blanca. of the South Region of the Prefecture with headquarters in Viedma, before the federal justice there they process the legal proceedings.
In the case of Hong Pu 16, there was also an attempt to flee, after being detected in the early hours of Monday by Bouchard within the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone at the height of Puerto Madryn. "He had his satellite identification system turned off , but the potas extended in the middle of the fishing task, along with their lights on," reported the Army Operations Training and Enlistment Command (COAA).
After failing to respond to repeated attempts at radio communication and light signals that were made, the jig began to sail, at high speed, heading for mile 201. He motivated a chase by the Navy ship, which finally managed to board it about three hours later.
In their warehouses there were 700 kilos of fresh fish and 300 tons of frozen fish. The Bouchard Visiting Crew that boarded the Hong Pu 16 guided its arrival to the Bahía Blanca estuary, escorted by the Navy ship.
Once the procedure was completed this Tuesday, the crew returned to Bouchard. Before the crew disembarks, they will be subjected to the controls set by the Ministry of Health of the Nation, to rule out the presence of Covid-19.
White Bay. Correspondent.