A TAIWANESE fishing boat captain told the Boroko District Court on Friday that when armed Australian soldiers boarded his vessel on May 11, he was so frightened that he wet his pants.

Hsu Jin Te, skipper of Hwai Tsai No. 101, gave evidence through an interpreter on Friday.

He told the court that one of four armed Australian soldiers who boarded his vessel pointed a gun at him. “I was frightened, and as a matter of fact, I wet my pants in the wheelhouse,” Jin Te said.

Earlier, two state witnesses, Mr Greg Bowness of the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol, who first boarded the vessel on May 10 following its apprehension in the Torres Strait Protected Zone waters and an interpreter, Mr Wayne Lu, told the court that Jin Te looked very much normal and calm.

Mr Bowness also said the soldiers were armed basically to provide security for fisheries officers who went on board the vessel to carry out investigations and to guard the vessel.

Jin Te is facing charges of illegally fishing within the Torres Strait Protected Zone. The zone comes under the jurisdiction of PNG under the Fisheries Act.

He was also charged with fishing in the area without a fishing licence and using the boat to process fish taken by the same boat.

Hwai Tsai No. 101 is owned by a company known as Inter Sea Fish Pty Ltd of Port Moresby.

State Prosecutor Aquila Samson is to continue his cross-examination of Jin Te today when the court resumes

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