MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's DINARA requests additional data in Chinese jigger incident

“DINARA will issue a report that will be submitted to the Coast Guard for a general understanding of what happened,” Coronel explained

Uruguay's National Directorate of Aquatic Resources (DINARA) Chief Jaime Coronel has told reporters all the evidence submitted by Uruguayan Navy authorities was being analyzed in the case of a Chinese fishing trawler caught while performing illegal catches in territorial waters earlier this month.

Coronel also said in a TV interview that his agency was requesting additional information “to confirm some events.”

Read also: 11 tons of squid found on Chinese vessel fishing illegally in Uruguayan waters

“Depending on the completion of this diagnosis, DINARA will issue a report that will be submitted to the Navy for a general understanding of what happened,” he added.

On July 2, Uruguay's Navy seized a Chinese-flagged vessel fishing illegally within the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Uruguay's Fleet Command had initially detected two such boats near Punta del Este.

Navy aircraft went to the area to confirm the situation and took photographs of the vessels, one of them, the Lu Rong Yuan Yu Yu 606, apparently drifting with fishing gear laid out.

Early Saturday morning the aircraft departed again and this time detected three possible fishing targets, including the previous two spottings. The ROU 23 Maldonado intercepted the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 606 Sunday evening. At that time, the Chinese vessel headed northwest in disregard of the instructions from the Uruguayan patrol boat to be ready for inspection. Finally, at 10.30 am Monday, July 4, the Chinese vessel stopped 55 miles southeast of Punta del Este. At noon it was seized and diverted to the Port of Montevideo.

The 28 crew members of the Lu Rong Yuan Yu 606 -14 Chinese and 14 Indonesians- are to remain in Uruguay pending further inquests.