BINTULU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Bintulu Zone on Thursday detained two foreign fishing boats along with its 25 crew members about 87 nautical miles northwest of Kuala Kemena.
Acting director of MMEA Bintulu Zone Commander Maritime Effendy Mohamed Fadil said the arrests were made by the patrolling asset at the area, known to be as a fishing ‘hotspot’ amongst the foreign fishermen, following reports by the local fishing community about the presence of foreign vessels encroaching into state waters.
At 8am, MMEA Bintulu Zone detected two suspicious boats with Vietnamese fishermen on board carrying out fishing activities.
During an inspection, it was discovered that the two vessels do not have any valid permit to carry out fishing activities in the country’s waters.
Meanwhile, the crew members, including two skippers, failed to submit any valid documents when checked.
All crew members and the two boats were detained and brought to the Bintulu Maritime Zone Vessel Detention Centre for further investigation.
Several fishing equipment, diesel supply of about 10,000 litres and their catch weighing at about 10 metric tonnes were also confiscated.
The total seizure including two boats is estimated to be worth RM2 million.
The case will be investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985, for failing to inform the Malaysian authorities on their arrival and fishing in Malaysian waters without permission.
Effendy said the detained crew members will undergo Covid-19 screening and will be investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not possessing valid identification documents.
Maritime Malaysia always welcomes information and complaints from the entire maritime community to report any suspicious activity at sea directly to the MERS 999 line or the Bintulu Maritime Zone Maritime Operations Centre (086-314 254)/ Sarawak Maritime Operations Center (082-432544) which operates 24 hours.
