RSIPF appeals to public to look out for Indonesian registered vessel

Members of the public living in coastal communities in the Western, Choiseul, Isabel, Malaita and Renbel Provinces have been advised to look out for an Indonesian registered vessel the Metro Teratari that has entered Solomon Islands territorial waters through the western border with Papua New Guinea without the approval of the authorities.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) Ian Vaevaso says, “The vessel had applied to the Solomon Islands Government’s COVID-19 Oversight Committee to enter the country but no approval was granted.

The vessel was reported to have bypassed this and continued travelling through Solomon Waters heading to Honiara until the authorities could not sight it.”

DC Vaevaso adds, “The vessel is a passenger vessel owned by the Solomon Resource Management Ltd with 15 crew members on board. There were no physical sightings by any locals in the Western Province but it was located few kilometres North West of Mono Island in Western Province through an earth-ship view device as supplied to police by Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources at Noro. The vessel is currently located within the Solomon waters.”

“Police is calling on members of the public especially those living along the coasts to take a lookout for this vessel and report any sightings to the nearest police station. People can also call the Kulitanae Police Post on phone 44127, Taro Police Station on phone 63199 or call the Police Operation Centre in Honiara on 27893,” says DC Vaevaso.