Viking Fishing Vessel Sunk by Indonesian Authorities

Authorities in Indonesia have sunk the last of the “Bandit 6” toothfish poaching vessels, the Viking, in Pangandaran, West Java. 

“This stateless vessel has done illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in some parts of the world for a long time,” said Indonesia's Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti. 

Representatives from environmental organization Sea Shepherd witnessed the sinking, which marks the end of over a decade of toothfish poaching in the Southern Ocean at the hands of the Bandit 6, and the conclusion of Sea Shepherd’s 12th Southern Ocean Defense Campaign, Operation Icefish 2015-16.

Operation Icefish 2015-16 Campaign Leader, Captain Siddharth Chakravarty, said, “In a span of just 15 months, Sea Shepherd has cleaned up the Southern Ocean of illegal fishing. An issue that was largely thought to be unsolvable under current international legal instruments was confronted and dealt with using two direct-action, at-sea campaigns. Six of the most notorious and persistent poaching vessels on this planet are now out of commission making this one of the biggest successes in marine conservation history.”

In December 2014, the Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker, under the command of Captain Peter Hammarstedt, and Sam Simon, under the command of Chakravarty, departed Australia and New Zealand respectively to patrol the Southern Ocean for the Bandit 6.

The six, outlawed vessel had exploited loopholes in international law for over ten years, fishing illegally for vulnerable Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish in the shadowlands of Antarctica, outside the reach of traditional law enforcement.

The campaign, which lasted for over five months and saw the historical chase of the most notorious of the poaching vessels, Thunder, by the Bob Barker spawned international efforts that caused massive disruptions to the illegal toothfish trade.

On April 6, following the 110-day pursuit, the Thunder was scuttled by its captain and two officers in the waters of São Tomé and Príncipe, West Africa. Evidence provided by Sea Shepherd later led to the conviction of the three responsible, sentences of approximately three years in jail each. 

In May, two more of the Bandit 6, the Songhua and Yongding, were apprehended in Cabo Verde, West Africa. Later that same month, authorities in Malaysia detained the fourth of the Bandit 6 vessels, the Perlon.

In early February 2016, authorities in Senegal had arrested the Kunlun. The vessel, which had been chased out of its hunting grounds in the Southern Ocean by Chakravarty and the crew of the Sam Simon in early 2015, had been prevented from continuing its poaching operations since that time.

A week later, after tracking the Viking to South East Asia, Chakravarty notified officials in Indonesia of the suspected entry of the poaching vessel into Indonesian waters. Then on February 26, the Indonesian Navy announced that it had arrested the Viking.

Following two weeks of investigations, Indonesian authorities charged the Viking and its crew with fisheries crimes. The vessel was subsequently sunk in accordance with Indonesian law.

The Viking’s captain, Huan Venesa of Chile, and its crew of 10 from Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, Myanmar and Peru, remain in detention in Indonesia.