ITALIAN SHIP POACHING IN CROATIAN WATERS IMPOUNDED

SPLIT, Dec 10 (Hina) - Croatia's police on Thursday seized an Italian trawler owned by Piccolo Galileo, after they caught it pouching in Croatia's territorial water. The ship was impounded after fishermen aboard tried to run away. That's why Croatian policemen were forced to fire several shots toward the vessel without injuring anybody, reported Split- Dalmatian county police on Friday. Policemen patrolling aboard the "Hrabri" boat spotted the trawler fishing great amounts of fish at 15.56 hours Thursday off the Croatian island of Palagruza, 0.6 nautical miles inside the Croatian territorial waters. The police boat intercepted the Italian ship at 16.16 hours when it was sailing 0.2 nautical miles inside the Croatian territorial waters. The commander of the police boat ordered to the Italians to stop the trawler. They disobeyed the order and the Croatian policemen fired two flares in front of the bow of the trawler. The police used rotating lights simultaneously. As the Italian ship did not stop sailing after that, the police had to use fire arms in the chase. The police fired one bullet from a machine-gun in front of the bow and one bullet above the Italian trawler. Then, the fishermen aboard the trawler dropped nets in the sea in order to sail faster toward the Italian waters, and the policemen fired several bullets in the air. Nobody of the Italian crew was hurt, but damage was done to navigating equipment and the deck of the trawler. At 16:29 hours, three Croatian police officers were transferred to the Italian ship which was at that moment in the international waters. The trawler was seized and forced to sail into the port of Vis, while the five Italian fishermen were taken to the magistrate's court in Vis as they violated the law on the control of the state border and the law on sea fishing, the Split county police said. (hina) ms