Operators of fishing boats navigating in pirate-plagued or high-risk waters will soon be able to hire armed security personnel to defend their ships, according to an amendment passed by the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday.
The revision to the Fisheries Act will permit fishing boat owners to hire armed guards provided by private maritime security companies in risky waters. They will be required to submit related documents to authorities in Taiwan.
Fisheries Agency Director-General James Sha identified high risk waters as those near the Strait of Malacca and the Gulf of Aden.
Several long-distance Taiwanese fishing vessels operating in the Indian Ocean have been taken by pirates and held for ransoms in the past three years, but Taiwanese law has prohibited them, until now, from having armed security guards on board.
The Legislature also passed a non-binding resolution to allow Taiwanese fishing ships to hire armed security personnel while operating in the South China Sea and in waters within Taiwan’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones that overlap with those of the Philippines and Vietnam.
Taiwanese fishing vessels in those areas are often harassed by Vietnamese or Philippine government patrol vessels. It was not known if the government will follow the lawmakers’ resolution.
At present, around 100 Taiwanese tuna fishing vessels weighing between 300 and 500 tons that operate in the Indian Ocean illegally employ armed guards, Sha said.
Currently, a three-person armed unit is believed to cost US$18,000 per month, according to sources familiar with the issue.
Sha said the law revision will force the spending on such gunmen to become more transparent.
The Central News Agency