In the early hours of Tuesday, the Indian Navy deployed its Aerial Maritime Reconnaissance assets in the southern Indian Ocean following the sinking of a Chinese fishing vessel.
The vessel in question, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, had 39 crew members on board and sank approximately 900 nautical miles south of India’s Kanyakumari, the southern tip of mainland India.
The fate of the crew, which includes 17 individuals from China, 17 from Indonesia, and five from the Philippines, remains unknown. The Indian Navy conducted extensive searches using its P8I multi-role maritime surveillance aircraft despite adverse weather conditions and located multiple objects that may belong to the sunken vessel.
Additionally, at the request of the Chinese Navy (People’s Liberation Army Navy) warships approaching the area, the Indian Navy aircraft dropped search and rescue equipment, such as life rafts.
The Indian Navy emphasized its commitment as a reliable and responsible partner in ensuring safety at sea. The navy’s units coordinated search and rescue efforts with other units in the area and provided guidance to the PLA (N) warships en route to the incident scene.
The Indian Navy reiterated its dedication to providing all possible assistance to the ongoing search and rescue operations.
China is known to possess the world’s largest fishing fleet, supported by Chinese maritime agencies and numerous support vessels. There have been reports of Chinese and other vessels engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in distant waters, depleting marine wealth, habitats, and resources.
Such practices are considered unsustainable and cause significant damage to the seabed.
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