KUWAIT CITY, 27 August — Kuwaiti coast guards have not seized Saudi shrimp fishing boats for violating the emirate’s territorial waters, as claimed by Saudi fishermen, an official said in remarks published yesterday.
“The Kuwaiti coast guard has not seized any Saudi boats,” acting undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, Maj. Gen. Abdullah Al-Fares, told Al-Watan newspaper.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Yaum newspaper on Sunday quoted Saudi fishermen in the Eastern Province bordering Kuwait as saying Kuwaiti coast guards had seized about 50 boats and arrested their crews.
Al-Watan quoted sources as saying Kuwaiti coast guard boats had intercepted a number of Saudi fishing boats, “which were catching shrimp in Kuwaiti territorial waters”, and requested them to return to Saudi waters. The sources said the boats were spotted south of Um Al-Maradem, a tiny Kuwaiti island very close to Saudi territorial waters, and that such incidents were not uncommon, especially in good shrimp seasons.
