Singapore defends ‘appropriate’ interception of Indonesian fishing boats due to incursions

The Singapore coastguard had observed the Indonesian fishing vessels repeatedly entering and exiting the city state’s waters, the police say

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Singapore’s coastguard has defended its interception of Indonesian fishing vessels in response to repeated incursions into the city state’s territorial waters. Photo: Facebook/Plan_B

Published: 4:40pm, 3 Jan 2025Updated: 4:43pm, 3 Jan 2025

Singapore has defended its interception of two Indonesian fishing vessels as an “appropriate enforcement action” in response to their incursions into the city state’s territorial waters after a video of the incident on Christmas Eve went viral.

In a statement on Thursday, the police said that the Singapore coastguard had observed the Indonesian fishing vessels repeatedly entering and exiting Singapore’s waters near Tuas, a western coastal area close to the city state’s maritime border with Indonesia.

The activity began around 8.45am on December 24. Around 1.20pm, two of five Indonesian fishing boats ventured further into the city state’s waters, prompting the coastguard to intercept them, the statement said.

Singapore has defended its coastguard’s interception of several Indonesian fishing vessels in its waters on December 24, 2024. Photo: Facebook/Plan_B

The statement was released after a viral video surfaced on social media showed a fisherman falling into the sea during the incident.

The fisherman who fell into the sea, Danil Mahadir Van, 18, told CNN Indonesia that Singaporean authorities “chased” the fishing vessels away by surrounding them, but they refused to leave because they believed they were in Indonesian fishing waters.

The Singapore police said they were aware of the video, and subsequent news articles about the incident, but maintained that their officers acted appropriately.

“Police coastguard officers then engaged the fishermen on board the fishing vessels in Singapore territorial waters (STW) and advised them to leave as unauthorised vessels were prohibited from entering the area. They eventually acceded and left STW at about 1.40pm.”