4 August 2025
The St Helena Government (SHG) is responding to recent media queries regarding the activities of the fishing vessel, St Albatros, which has been operating within St Helena’s fisheries. This statement is issued to provide clarity on the vessel’s licensing and to update the public on the status of its operations and recent reports.
The St Albatros is licensed to undertake both commercial and exploratory fishing in St Helena’s waters. The vessel was fishing under the terms of a licence issued by the Chief Fisheries Officer. Under the provisions of the Fisheries Ordinance 2021, it is possible for a foreign vessel to obtain a licence.
As part of SHG’s oversight procedures, an SHG Fisheries Observer was on board the St Albatros, throughout its recent fishing trip, maintaining daily communication with our Marine Enforcement Section.
One of the conditions of the fishing licence requires the vessel to have a fully functioning Automatic Identification System (AIS) in place to aid the tracking and identification of the vessel whilst at sea. The St Albatros is equipped with an AIS, however on the return of the vessel from fishing, the vessel owner advised SHG the vessel had being experiencing problems with its AIS during its fishing trip which impacted its ability to be tracked during the entire trip. As a result, he would be seeking guidance on its repair before undertaking any further fishing
Following the completion of the fishing trip, the vessel owner and Vessel Registry Authority in SA advised SHG that the St Albatros had been de-registered in SA at the request of the vessel owner. As part of this de-registration process, the vessel’s owner is required to remove all previous registry status from the vessel’s GPS, AIS, and other transmitting systems, as well as the physical registry markings on the vessel itself. This is a critical step to ensure the vessel is not interpreted as claiming to be flagged to a country where it is no longer registered.
We have received reports concerning potential breaches of international maritime law by the St Albatros and are looking into the matter. To ensure a comprehensive and impartial review, we are seeking expert advice from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in the UK.
We are committed to protecting our marine environment and upholding international standards, and we will keep the public informed of the findings of the investigation when they become available.
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