Boat inquiry

VANUATU Prime Minister Walter Lini has ordered an inquiry into how a Taiwanese fishing boat confiscated for illegal fishing nearly four months ago was sold back to its owner for US$BOOO when the government had intended to sell it for US$2OO,OOO.

In a statement released in Port Vila on December 14, Lini said the ship, Hong Man Seng, was sold by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry without proper

government approval.

The ship and crew were arrested for fishing within Vanuatu’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The ship’s master, Chern Chin Her, was fined US$BO,OOO and his boat was confiscated by the government. Eight of Chern’s 11 men who crew the ship left for Taiwan in early December.

Chern paid his fine and, on December 14, he paid US$BOOO for the ship and sailed it out of Vanuatu with a crew of three.

Meanwhile, in Papua New Guinea, another Taiwanese fishing boat, Lian Qun Sheng, was sold back to its owners for U 55460,000 after being confiscated in early December. Fisheries officials said the ship was worth US$l.2 million. The fish found on board was worth US$2.7 million. □