PING TAI RONG 316

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Longliner released

The owner of the 'Ping Tai Rong 49', stranded on the reef of the Anuanurunga atoll, made the payment of the safety deposit required by the court to authorize the lifting of the precautionary seizure made on a another tuna vessel of the owner, the 'Ping Tai Rong 316', which had been seized in the port of Papeete. The sum arrived in the morning of Oct 29 on the CARPAP account opened for this purpose by Maitre Piriou who was defending the interests of French Polynesia in this affair. The government immediately gave instructions to release the 'Ping Tai Rong 316'.

Longliner seized after owners refused to salvage another company ship

The French Polyneasian government has seized the 'Ping Tai Rong 316' after it refused to salvage the wreck of the tuna longliner 'Ping Tai Rong 49' (MMSI: 412420585,) which grounded on July 23, 2021. The impounding of the 'Ping Tai Rong 316', owned by the Ping Tai Rong Ocean Fishery Group, was approved on Oct 19, 2021 as collateral for the cost of the stranded ship’s removal. It was a first for French Polynesia and was aimed at ensuring the estimated $4.8 million cost of retrieving the 'Ping Tai Rong 49' from a reef at the Anuanurunga atoll. It was discovered that the 40-meter-long ship’s radar was faulty, having stopped working days prior. It also had an incomplete map and hit the atoll at cruising speed. The ship was carrying more than 31,000 gallons of fuel, sparking an immediate response from French Polynesian authorities to contain a potential spill. A crew member and the ship’s captain were taken to court, accused of marine pollution and breaching navigation protocol, but they were released last week and expected to leave Tahiti aboard the 'Ping Tai Rong 316' before the ship’s seizure. Neither the shipowner nor company representatives had indicated any intention of salvaging the ship, Tahiti-infos reported. In March last year another Chinese fishing vessel, the 'Shen Gang Shund 1', ran aground on the Arutua atoll, northeast of Tahiti, and it remains abandoned by its owners. The vessel which was carrying shark meat in a shark sanctuary, has not been successfully retrieved. The incidents have prompted French Polynesian authorities to consider a local law banning certain ships from transiting through its waters.