Chapter 942: Sinking Your Own Ship

Xiao Peng was shocked after hearing Walter's words: He had only heard that illegal fishing boats would destroy themselves, but he didn't expect to witness this scene with his own eyes?!

Whether an illegal fishing ship will be destroyed depends mainly on who catches it - in fact, these illegal fishing ships are rarely caught.

There are so many small countries in West Africa, and even the countries with large land areas are basically poor places.

The cost of maintaining a navy is the most expensive of the three armed forces! Not every country can afford it. Look at the navies of developed countries in Europe, they are in such a terrible state, let alone Africa?

These countries don't even have navies. Even if they do have so-called "warships," they're only from Xiao Peng's great-grandfather's generation, and they can't outrun illegal fishing boats. So, they're generally safe at sea. If they're caught, they're usually apprehended in port. And illegal fishing is a well-established industry. Basically, you can just pay a little money and you're done!

However, they are not completely safe at sea and are at risk of being arrested. Where does this risk come from? The main sources are Senegal and Nigeria.

What are the five strongest navies in Africa? According to Western media, they are Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Senegal, and Nigeria. In fact, apart from these, few countries in Africa have navies. South Africa, while Africa's most industrially powerful nation, lacks major rivals and maritime disputes, resulting in a relatively small navy. Tanzania's navy is the strongest in East Africa, but its use of exclusively Chinese-made equipment puts it at the bottom of the list—after all, this is a Western media ranking, isn't it?

Of the five major naval powers in Africa, three are in the north.

Egypt, needless to say, is guilty of possessing a treasure even though it is innocent. The Suez Canal was once controlled by Britain and France, but was forcibly reclaimed in 1956. They have fought countless battles over this cash cow since then: with France, Israel, and Britain. Although they ultimately lost, the Suez Canal was finally returned to Egypt thanks to a joint intervention by the US and the Soviet Union.

But after returning, they still felt uneasy. In 1967, they fought with Israel again. This time, Egypt was beaten again and simply blocked the Suez Canal. This blockage lasted for eight years! It was not until eight years later that they destroyed Israel’s Bar Lev Line and restored navigation of the canal.

At that time, they believed a saying that those who lag behind will be beaten. This is not an exaggeration. Now Egypt's military strength is the strongest in Africa.

The Moroccan and Algerian navies are strong because of a long-standing feud, leading to a military competition. These two countries also have strong navies. Senegal and Nigeria, on the other hand, are due to their complex regional environments. Both countries are surrounded by numerous small, poor, and chaotic nations. Senegal itself has a country within its borders, while Nigeria is located in the Gulf of Guinea, making the situation even more complex.

Although the Nigerian Navy is very powerful in the Gulf of Guinea, it is not really afraid of illegal fishermen.

Because there are too many countries in the Gulf of Guinea, and each country has only a small amount of territorial waters, it is impossible to go to other countries' territorial waters just to catch illegal fishing. This is considered "invasion". So as long as we pay attention to the location of illegal fishing, Nigeria can be put aside. Instead of worrying about the Nigerian Navy, we should worry about the pirates there.

But we really need to be wary of the Senegalese Navy!

Senegal is the leading jurisdiction in West Africa for catching illegal fishing. If you land in Senegal's hands, you're in big trouble: Generally, getting caught means fines starting at $500,000, confiscation of tools, and jail time. That's a real problem! Almost all illegal fishing vessels in West Africa are apprehended in Senegal.

But there are still many illegal fishermen who go there to take risks.

This is because across the waters from Senegal lies an island nation called Cape Verde—a place most Chinese people have never heard of. It's an island nation, once a Portuguese colony, gaining independence in 1975 and then again in 1991. The entire country has a population of just over 100,000.

But that country is also pretty ridiculous. Between 1974 and 2012, it experienced four successful coups and 16 attempted coups, and replaced 12 heads of state. Such a place's economy must be seriously affected. Where did they steal the navy?

Cape Verde is rich in fishery resources! A significant portion of the country's economic income comes from selling the rights to catch these problematic fisheries to foreign countries in exchange for foreign currency, which has led to a surge in illegal fishing.

They can't catch them, but that doesn't matter. They can look for fish in Senegal on the African continent. After all, the waters between the two countries are where the most developed fishery resources are. Senegal should also pay attention to the fishery resources here.

Catching illegal fishing vessels used to be difficult, requiring dispatched patrol vessels. Now, with the advent of remote sensing satellites, this has become much easier. Sadly, however, they don't have their own satellites. For a country this large, they lease theirs from Europe. Therefore, it's impossible to catch all illegal fishing vessels, leading many to take these risks.

If they are caught by the people over there, many experienced thieves will blow up the boat to destroy the evidence. Even if they are caught, they will never admit it. At most, they will be detained for a few days and tortured before being released.

Of course, the fishing boat will have to pay compensation: but compared to paying a fine and going to jail, it is much better!

It was obvious that the poachers who came this time were an experienced poaching gang, and they chose to destroy the evidence at the first opportunity: they felt like they had seen a ghost!

It's fine that the Luna and Calypso are flying the EU flag, but why are they also flying the Chinese flag? Are Chinese ships going to Africa to catch illegal fishing?

Is this a collaboration between nations? The only country in West Africa with good relations with China is Senegal! Being arrested by Senegal is a tragedy in itself, but if China and Senegal work together to arrest him, it would be a horrific sight. Destroy the evidence quickly!

You say this is unlucky! They went north to the Moroccan waters to poach in order to avoid the Senegalese Coast Guard, but unexpectedly they were caught here too!

What bad luck!

There was no need to say anything else, just destroy the evidence by sinking the ship first. So there was a collective bombing of the ship.

Xiao Peng picked up the intercom and asked, "What's the situation now?"

Walter said: "They are already on the lifeboat waiting for rescue, boss, what should we do?"

"Check for weapons." Xiao Peng said.

"Let them on board?" asked Walter.

"Get on that damn boat! Give them a rope to tow them away! Contact the Moroccan Coast Guard, we'll hand over at sea!"