Taiwanese officials have asked British authorities for help after a member of a fishing vessel’s crew allegedly stabbed a colleague and forced others to jump into British waters in the Indian Ocean.
The Fisheries Agency of Taiwan confirmed earlier that it was making contact with British authorities through the Foreign Office as long-liner Wen Peng drifts within 600 nautical miles of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which belong to Britain.
Meanwhile, a coastguard vessel carrying SWAT officers from Taiwan is now on a 3,000-mile journey to intercept Wen Peng, which is registered in the township of Donggang in the island’s southern Pingtung County.
Fisheries Agency Deputy Director Lin Kuo-ping said they received a distress call from Wen Peng’s Taiwanese skipper Chen Chen-mao at 3am local time on 20th February, saying a fight had broken out among his Filipino crew members, one of whom stabbed and killed another.
They then revealed a second crew member, an Indonesian national, was also understood to have died of knife wounds.
The captain claims the Filipino fisherman refused to let others approach the first victim, who was later thrown into the Indian Ocean roughly 1,540 nautical miles north-east of the Mauritius capital Port Louis.
Many of his crew members were also forced to jump into the ocean in order to escape the knifeman, who is understood to still be on the vessel.
Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has dispatched fishing patrol vessel Hsun Hu No 8 to the Indian Ocean, together with armed members of its Special Task Unit.
Meanwhile, Taiwan-registered fishing vessels Hung Fu 88 and Shang Fung 3, as well as friendly Cyprus-registered bulk carrier STAHLA, were all requested to help.
Lin said Hung Fu 88 had rescued at least five crew members from Wen Peng.
However, six fishermen remained in the sea and 10 crew, including the captain and his two Taiwanese colleagues, were taking shelter inside the cabin.
Lin said contact with the UK’s Foreign Officer would be made through Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He added that Australia has also sent an observation aircraft to monitor the ongoing situation.
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Story By: Scott Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: AsiaWire
