Four Vietnamese fishermen were arrested by Taiwan’s maritime patrol corps in Kaohsiung on Sunday for allegedly trying to sneak into Taiwan.
The patrol corps, a unit of the Cabinet-level Coast Guard Administration, received a report on Sunday that four fishermen had jumped off a boat two or three nautical miles off Kaohsiung Port and were floating with the help of crude floating devices.
After arriving on the scene, authorities suspected that the men did not fall into the sea accidentally and brought them back for questioning.
Maritime patrol officials said the four men, who worked on a Vanuatu-registered fishing boat, made the floating devices using wooden boards and life buoys and were attempting to swim ashore in Kaohsiung early Sunday after their boat berthed outside of Kaohsiung Port.
The fishermen said they had attempted to swim to shore hoping to have the chance to make more money because it was very difficult working on fishing boats and they were paid very poorly.
The four men were arrested for violating immigration laws.
The Central News Agency