JAKARTA, Indonesia 鈥� Indonesia鈥檚 navy said Monday that one of its patrol vessels was rammed by two Vietnamese coast guard ships after intercepting a boat it says was fishing illegally in its waters.
Indonesia detained 12 Vietnamese fishermen from the boat, which sank in Saturday鈥檚 clash, and they are being held at a naval base 鈥渇or further legal proceedings,鈥� said Rear Adm. Yudo Margono, the commander of Indonesia鈥檚 Western Fleet. Two others were rescued by Vietnam鈥檚 coast guard.
The Vietnamese fishing vessel was intercepted in waters off Indonesia鈥檚 Natuna island chain, which is in the southernmost reaches of the South China Sea, Margono said in a statement Monday.
Indonesia calls the waters the North Natuna Sea.
鈥淭he location of the arrest was actually in Indonesian waters,鈥� Margono said.
鈥淏ut the Vietnamese also claimed that the area was Vietnamese waters.鈥�
Video purportedly shot from the Indonesian vessel that has been shared widely on social media shows a Vietnamese patrol boat colliding with it as armed Indonesian seamen shout out insults such as 鈥渄og,鈥� 鈥漰ig鈥� and 鈥測ou die.鈥�
Indonesia, the world鈥檚 largest archipelagic nation, has sunk hundreds of illegal fishing vessels from Vietnam, the Philippines, China and other nations since 2014 as part of efforts to exert greater control over its vast maritime territory.
Its 2017 decision to rename the Natuna waters angered China, which claims most of the South China Sea and is in dispute with many Southeast Asian nations over the competing stakes.
Indonesia doesn鈥檛 have a territorial dispute with China, but Beijing鈥檚 claims overlap with Indonesia鈥檚 internationally recognized exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna islands. /gsg