A Chinese vessel searched in Cameroonian offshore for illegal fishing

Hong Da 1, a Chinese fishing vessel has just been boarded and searched in the town of Manoka, in the Cameroonian offshore. The boat, whose crew was made of locals and Asians, was immediately sent to Douala, the economic capital of the country.

According to information given by the national navy, this vessel, which had not yet any catch, was probably getting ready to fish less than 5km away from the coast, a zone legally dedicated to traditional and non-industrial fishing. Additionally, we learned, the fishing boat was getting dangerously close to the sub-marine cable SAT3, whose deployment led to a navigation ban in this area.

According to one authorised source, it was even Camtel, historical telecoms operator and operating this cable who, thanks to a monitoring system, detected the presence of the vessel along the Cameroonian coast and seized the national navy to board and search it.