Chinese fishing company Pingtan Marine Enterprises has secured access for thirteen of its fishing vessels to waters around Timor Leste.
Pingtan Marine Enterprises has been granted licences by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture of Timor Leste, and the thirteen trawler/netters are currently being fitted out to comply with local requirements.
‘This cooperation with the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is an important step towards our development direction,’ said Pingtan’s chairman and CEO Xinrong Zhuo. ‘Our management will dedicate ourselves to further expanding our company’s harvesting regions as a measure to reduce our dependency on a single territory and improve revenue as well as promote the economic development of Timor-Leste.’
The vessel refits are expected to be complete by the third quarter of this year.
Pingtan describes itself as a global fishing company and operates a fleet of 135 mainly trawlers and netting vessels fishing inside India’s EEZ and in Indonesia’s Arafura Sea. In addition, it operates four longliners and two jigging in international waters, all of which are registered under the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. Catches are sold to markets in the People’s Republic of China.
