Vice President Elias Camsek Chin said on Friday that the boat was turned over to the Taiwan government after Palau authorities found no violation.
PSS Remeliik seized the boat on Wednesday within Palau’s ExclusiveEconomic Zone.The boat which was believed to be fishing within Palau’s EEZ was put under investigation.Chin said the boat was released shortly after authorities found no violation.“When our authorities got there, there was no evidence that they were fishing in our EEZ waters so our authorities were ready to release them when the Taiwan government requested that the boat be turned over to them for proper disposition,”Chin said.Chin said there was no captain on board and only the crewmembers were on board when Palau authorities intercepted the boat last week.“The crew members said the captain stayed in Taiwan and did not sail with them. They were supposed to go back to Taiwan when they were intercepted,”Chin said.Chin said although they received information that its crew had hijacked the boat, they have no reason to keep the boat in custody and the matter is under investigation by the Taiwan authorities.A Taiwan News Online reported that Taiwan official had asked Palau, Indonesia and Philippines for help locating the vessel, which have been reportedly missing since August 19.There were reportedly eight Indonesian crewmen on board and one captain. The fishing boat Tai Yi Hsiang was fishing for tuna near Palau.
