MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Viarsa 1 is close to capture

A high sea drama is playing out at the moment as armed fisheries inspectors prepare to board the suspected toothfish poacher Viarsa 1 that has been eluding capture for the last three weeks.

SABC News says that four ships from three countries have closed in around the fleeing vessel.

And it has also been disclosed that salvage tug John Ross was withdrawn from a salvage operation in Cape Town and is also on the scene.

Acting Governor Harriet Hall in Stanley has confirmed to FIBS Broadcasting Station that following on from an Australia plea for help in catching the vessel a Falklands Fishery patrol vessel has been involved in the intercept.

The ships are on the fringe of pack ice, in a mountainous sea, three thousand kilometers South West of Cape Town.

Horst Kleinsmidt the deputy Director General of Marine and Coastal management in South Africa says that the captured ship will be brought to Cape Town. And the outcome of the operation will be known later tonight.