Fishing Vessels and Fake Documents

A transportation ministry official gaped at the sight of of a vessel he had measured two years ago. At Juwana fishing port in Pati, Central Java, last November, Abdi Sabda discovered that the vessel's length had changed from 14.5 meters to over 27 meters, and its weight had increased from 28 to 83 gross tons.

In addition, the fishing boat that he had come to re-verify turned out to be vastly different from the data in his records. Its home deck, which previously had three portholes, now had five. Documents stating it was a vessel weighing under 30 gross tons did not match this one. "I have no idea where the original (small) boat is now. All I see are big boats," said Abdi, who is chief of the vessel measurement and identification directorate at the transportation ministry, two weeks ago.

January 5, 2016