SANAA, 24 July 2003 — A Chinese sailor was killed and two others were wounded when a Yemeni military patrol attacked a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel, likely for operating inside an exclusion zone off the southeastern Yemeni coast, officials said yesterday.
Two military patrol boats intercepted the ship — the CNFC-9 — on Tuesday while it was fishing two miles off the coast in violation of regulations imposed by Yemeni authorities, a port official told Arab News by phone from Nashton harbor in the eastern Al-Mahra province bordering Oman.
Yemeni authorities prohibit ships that use unconventional fishing methods from entering a six-mile offshore area along the Yemeni coasts because the area is reserved for conventional fishing.
When the ship refused to follow orders to leave the area, the military boats fired warning shots and the sailors fired back, forcing the soldiers to open fire at the ship, the official said.
One Chinese sailor was killed immediately by a gunshot to the head and two others, including the vessel’s captain, were wounded.
The ship reportedly belonged to a Chinese fishing company authorized to fish in Yemeni waters.
Local police officials contacted by Arab News denied an AP report that pirates attacked the ship. “This is nothing to do with piracy,” one police official said. “The incident is still under investigation, and available details indicate a firefight with military patrols.”
The Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea are piracy-prone areas. A total of 16 recorded piracy and robbery incidents have taken place in the area since 1998.
