The Re-Invention of Ematum in a Nutshell

The wheels of justice grind slowly and it has taken several years to dig up the dirt. But the scandal of the missing USD2 billion in public money used to (amongst other things) purchase 24 tuna fishing vessels ordered by the Mozambique government in 2013, has now reached a point where some arrests have been made. Ematum is no more but there is a growing number of Chinese vessels fishing in Mozambique’s waters.

In 2013 Fishing Industry News Southern Africa reported that the Mozambican government had placed an order on a French shipbuilder for a fleet of 24 new tuna fishing vessels for its state-owned company Empresa Mocambicana de Atum SA, or Mozambican Tuna Co., (Ematum). Also on order were three patrol boats and three interceptors.