Cook Islands Strikes Chinese-Owned Vessel From Registry

A Cook Islands-flagged longliner owned by China-based Handfull Marine Co. Ltd. has been deregistered after the island nation’s High Court fined the vessel NZD 400,000 (USD 233,676) for illegal fishing and falsifying reports in June this year. Maritime Cook Islands, which administers the government’s international ship and yacht registry, confirmed the deregistration of the vessel ‘Kema,’ according to Cook Islands news sites.

The boat, currently not listed in the WCPFC Registered Fishing Vessels (RFV), is 32 meters long and has an 86 M/T fish hold capacity. It previously operated under the name ‘Oreyl’ and was flagged to Belize.