Egyptian crew deny fishing in Maltese waters

Egyptian crew members aboard a fishing vessel denied fishing within the Maltese territorial waters but documentation showed otherwise, a police officer said yesterday.

PC Trevor Micallef told Magistrate Denis Montebello how on Tuesday night he was informed that the Armed Forces of Malta had intercepted a vessel carrying out illegal fishing and that the vessel was going to berth at 5 a.m. on Wednesday.

Once the ship berthed the officer went on site where he saw five fishermen and representatives of the fisheries department who were inspecting the boat and found 28 boxes of fish.

The fishermen said they were not within the 25-mile Maltese territorial limit when they were apprehended but AFM documentation showed they were.

The officer was testifying the compilation of evidence against the captain of the Cyprus-registered vessel Alexander K, Wagih Mohammed El-Ghaly Abou-Hegazy, 37, his brother Oussama Mohammed El-Ghaly Abou-Hegazy, 26, their two cousins Emad El-Din Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy, 29, and Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy, 28, and Abdou Helmy El-Bousaty, 30, who pleaded not guilty to illegal fishing.

The captain is also charged with failing to notify a fisheries protection officer of the amounts, descriptions and presentation of fish on board the vessel and failing to stow the vessel's fishing gear in such manner that it was not readily available for use.

Police Inspector Ramon Mercieca, prosecuting, explained he had been informed that AFM personnel had seen the ship in Maltese waters when the nets were actually in the sea.

Director of Fisheries Anthony Gruppetta testified that Alexander K came to Malta regularly since it used the island as a base, however, he said the vessel was not licensed to fish in Maltese waters.

At the end of yesterday's sitting the captain was granted bail against a Lm1,000 deposit and a personal guarantee of Lm15,000 while Oussama Mohammed El-Ghaly, Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy and Abdou Helmy El-Bousaty were granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm5,000 each.

Emad El-Din Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy, an engineer on the ship, was granted bail on Wednesday against a personal guarantee of Lm10,000.

All five men were bound not leave the vessel.