High seas chase lasts 21 days

AN Australian patrol boat is closing in on a vessel used by suspected poachers after a chase through 4,600 miles of ocean lasting 21 days.

The Uruguayan-flagged Viarsa was allegedly poaching Patagonian toothfish, a gourmet delicacy, off Western Australia and a full cargo of the fish could be worth up to €3.25 million.

“We would hope, one way or the other, to bring this incident to a conclusion in the next 48 to 60 hours,” Australia’s Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said yesterday.