British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) patrol officers boarded and inspected the Sri Lanka flagged vessel, NINKI 1 (IMUL-A-0833-KLT), in BIOT waters on 31 July 2024 and remote inspected on 4 August 2024. The vessel had not submitted a request to transit BIOT waters. The vessel inspection on 22 May 2024 observed a longline being set and inspection of the hold noted the catch included IOTC species such as tuna species and billfish. The captain admitted to fishing in the area for 10 days. As a result, this vessel was included in the IOTC IUU List on 23 April 2025, whilst flagged to Sri Lanka and under ownership of MN UBEWARDHANA, for fishing in a coastal States water without authorisation. IOTC IUU List uses the vessels Sri Lankan national registration number, IMUL-A-0833-KLT, as its vessel name but the vessels name was NINKI 1 at the time of IOTC IUU listing.
Fishing in a coastal State without authorisation. Contravention of IOTC CMMs (e.g. Marker buoys/floats not correctly marked and VMS not fully operational).
