PLAYA PESMAR UNO

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Owner has to pay a sanction of 400.000 Euro

The owner of the "Playa Pesmar Uno" will have to pay a fine of 400,000 Euros, and the cargo of 337,712 tons was confiscated. He will pay the sanction next week, which will be lowered by 90,000 Euros as the fhe fish was valued at 550,000 Euros. The Argentine Government decided on Feb 23 that it imposed the ship which was captured 21 days ago. The Undersecretary of Fisheries of the country has decided to apply a fine of 10 million Pesos, the highest possible penalty, and also the seizure of the entire cargo. The Fisheries Marinenses reached an agreement, if it makes the payment within the next 10 business days, the penalty will be reduced by 25%, that is, to 7.5 million Pesos, equivalent to about 310,000 Euros. The cargo could be confiscated and subsequently sold in an auction or its value paid by the shipowner. The cargo, still on board the ship, consisted mainly of 154 tonnes of hake, 48 tonnes of squid and almost 129 tonnes of marujito, four tonnes of pollock, 1,75 tons of rays and some kilos of tuna and fork. The Playa Pesmar Uno was seized on February 4 when it was surprised by a patrol boat inside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Argentine, for which it was accused of illegal fishing. The captain of the ship denied the accustation, and the owner blamed its presence 0.4 miles inside the country's waters due to the failure of one of the three GPS that the ship has on board. The position was later corroborated by the Spanish General Secretariat of Fisheries when checking the satellite position data that the ship's VDR. The ship was alerted of its entry into Argentine waters from the Fisheries Monitoring Center (CSP) in Madrid. The Ministry initiated a sanctioning file, so that in addition to the sanction of Argentina the shipowner will have to pay a fine that could reach up to 60,000 Euros.

Faulty GPS could have caused ship to fish within exclusive economic zone

The owner of the "Playa Pesmar Uno" has acknowledged that the vessel, which was captured on Feb 4 by a Coast Guard from the Argentine Naval Prefecture (PNA), fished a few hours within the exclusive economic zone of Argentina. The ship remained moored in the port of Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, waiting for the National Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture to issue a sanction. The Pesquerias Marinenses admitted that it violated the Argentine maritime limits and fished 0.4 miles inside the EEZ boundary, but maintained that this was due to a fault in one of the three GPS on board. The Argentine authorities verified in Comodoro Rivadavia that one of the three GPS on board had a deviation, while the other two coincided. They indicated that the positioning systems of the ship were tested in that port, and that two of the devices placed the ship on the dock, while the other, which marks the position on the captain's map, did so in another direction. The defense strategy of the company will be based on the fact that there was no "bad faith", so as to reduce the sanction and reach an agreement with the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Nation that intervenes in the case. To avoid confiscation of the 320 tonnes that the Playa Pesmar Uno had on board, the company has to prove that the majority had been captured in international waters. For this, the use of data from the electronic on-board newspaper sent to Madrid is key. Considering the value of the load of fish that was carried by the Spanish fishing vessel and that is presumed to have been caught in Argentine waters, those responsible for the vessel face a fine that could range between ARS 5 million (EUR 206,700) and ARS 10 million (EUR 413,000). According to the president of the Cooperative Fisheries Shipowners Puerto de Vigo (ARVI), Javier Touza, there was a "clear understanding" between the shipowner and the Argentine authorities, so a lesser sanction was expected to the maximum provided by Argentine law.

Fishing vessel faces fine up to 400.00 Euro

The "Playa Pesmar Uno" faces a fine that could reach up to around EUR 400,000 from Argentina, in case it is confirmed that it fished within 200 miles of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the country. In addition, the Argentine authorities could confiscate the fish that it had on board, which will mean an estimated loss of more than half a million Euros. The ship with its 34 crew remained seized in the port of Comodoro Rivadavia, waiting for Spain to confirm the ship´s path at the time of its arrest by the Argentine Coast Guard (PNA).Since the cargo of fish that the vessel had is valued in a millionaire amount and it is presumed was captured in Argentine waters, the people in charge of the boat will have to pay a fine that could vary between the ARS 5 million (EUR 206,700) and ARS ARS 10 million (EUR 413,000). As regards confiscation, the fishing vessel was in the midst of a Illex squid season in international waters, and there were some 320 tonnes of fish in its holds, in which there hake and ray were also found. Once the fine was paid, the ship could leave the port, which arrived on Feb 5 in the afternoon, escorted by a patrol boat. While the Argentine Government assures that the vessel was in the Argentine zone, from the Cooperative Fisheries Shipowners Puerto de Vigo (ARVI) they confirmed that the fishing captain denied the accusation and assured that they never left international waters. The president of the Pesquerías Marinenses (PESMAR Group), owner of the vessel, traveled to Argentina, where he will meet with a team of lawyers to analyze data and tests and prepare the defense strategy. For the company, it is very important to achieve the release of the fishing vessel as soon as possible, so that it can continue fishing. Report with photos: http://en.mercopress.com/2018/02/08/arrested-spanish-trawler-could-have-sailed-into-argentine-eez-because-of-a-mal-functioning-gps