Bangladesh probing two foreign fishing boats over ‘false declaration’

The government is investigating two foreign fishing trawlers anchored to Chatoogram Port for providing “false declaration”.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 8 Sept 2019, 01:56 PM
Updated : 8 Sept 2019, 01:56 PM

The government would announce a committee of up to nine members within Tuesday to conduct the inquiry, State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru told the media after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday.

The boats, FV Sea Wind and FV Sea View, entered the port on Aug 21 with Cameroon’s flags and eight crew members each, but later removed the flags, the state minister said.

The two vessels anchored to Continental Marine Fisheries Jetty pose no security threat as the government took measures to stop these from moving or unloading anything, he said.

The crew members of the boats containing illegal nets sought to enter the port saying these needed repairs, but the Marine Fisheries Academy, port authorities and Coast Guard found no glitch, the government said in a notice.

The vessels were scheduled to leave for Cambodia on Aug 26, but did not depart, according to the notice.

Their local agent Intermodal Private Limited provided “false and misleading” information, the notice said. 

The committee would investigate whether there is any other objective of the boats entering Bangladesh, the state minister said.

Officials in the meeting recommended action against customs officials who cleared the boat, Khasru said.