Staff Reporter
THE Angolan vessel that was allegedly caught fishing illegally in Namibian waters last month might be the tip of an iceberg. The Angolan-flagged vessel, Lucimar, was found fishing without permission in Namibia’s territorial waters, several miles south of the Angolan/Namibian borderline.
According to the police, the vessel was intercepted by the Nathaniel Maxuilili Patrol vessel of the Ministry of Fisheries and was taken to the Walvis Bay port where three of its nineteen crew members were arrested and charged with the contravention of the Marine Resources Act of 2000. The three accused — vessel captain Rodrigues Lima Ricardo Jose; vessel chief engineer Charl Le Corre, and Mateus Ambrosio — were denied bail, and the case was postponed to 8 February.
The incident follows several similar incidents recorded during the past ten years or so. According to the Angolan media, the fisheries authorities of Namibia have on several occasions during the past years presented formal complaints to their Angolan counterparts about Angolan fishing vessels that are occasionally spotted — but not intercepted — in Namibia’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
The sinning vessels were identified as:
Helsingfors: belonging to Pedro Cerqueira, son of Carolina Cerqueira, the current speaker of the Angolan parliament;
Avachinsky: belonging to the family of the former minister in the presidency, Frederico Manuel dos Santos Cardoso, and
Yun Der: belonging to the family of President Joao Lourenco.
