BINTULU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) here detained a tugboat and a barge laden with suspicious timber logs, about 2.1 nautical miles off Kuala Tatau estuary last Thursday (Mar 16).
Bintulu Maritime Zone director Captain Mohd Khairol Anuar Saad, in a statement, said the vessels were detained around 11.30am.
The vessels were manned by a seven-man crew, including their skipper, aged between 26 and 65 years old. The skipper is an Indian, and his crew consisted of three locals and three Indonesians.
“Inspections found that the skipper had failed to produce an authorisation form to load or unload cargo onto the vessel from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
“All the crew members, along with the tugboat and barge, were then escorted to the Bintulu Maritime Zone Vessel Detention Centre for further investigation,” he said.
The case is being investigated under the Customs Act 1967, which states that no goods transported by water from any place in Malaysia shall be landed except on such days and during such times as may be prescribed, unless permission to land goods on other days and during other times has been granted by the proper officer of customs.
In this regard, Mohd Khairol reminds the maritime community to comply with the law before conducting any activity at sea.
The community is also urged to report any suspicious activities or accidents at sea directly to MERS 999, the Bintulu MMEA Operations Centre at 086-314254 or the Sarawak MME Operations Centre at 082-432544.
