Crews on two Taiwanese fishing boats say they were fired upon early Monday morning in the Strait of Malacca. Taiwan’s fisheries agency has confirmed the news.
The two boats left southern Taiwan for the Indonesian island of Sumatra late last November. They were heading to Singapore on Monday to offload their catches. It is thought that it was an Indonesian patrol boat which opened fire on them.
A fisheries agency official said that while no fishermen were wounded, the two vessels were repeatedly fired upon for more than two hours.
Right now the boats are still about two days away from arriving in Singapore. More clarification is needed to determine who was behind the incident. If it is confirmed that it was an Indonesian patrol boat, Taiwan’s government will lodge a protest and demand compensation from Indonesia.
Meanwhile, a Taiwanese official stationed in Indonesia said it’s also possible that pirates attacked the boats, since piracy is rampant in the region. The official said more information is needed about whether the fishing boats had entered Indonesia’s economic waters.