KUCHING: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a Vietnamese fishing boat about 100 nautical miles from Tanjung Po near here on Tuesday (May 25).
Sarawak MMEA director First Admiral (Maritime) Zin Azman Md Yunus said the action was the result of gathered intelligence and tip-off from the local fishing community regarding the intrusion of foreign fishermen in Sarawak waters.
He added that MMEA conducted close monitoring at several focus locations and managed to detain the vessel around 4.45am.
“We detected a suspicious boat, and suspect that it was busy fishing at the location around 4am.
“Noticing the presence of MMEA assets, the boat released its fishing gear in an attempt to dispose of evidence and had attempted to escape.
“We continued to chase the boat, taking almost 45 minutes to intercept and stop it.”
The boat had no proper documentation or licence to carry out fishing activities in national waters.
Six crew members, including the Vietnamese skipper, aged between 22 and 51, also failed to provide any valid identification documents.
“All crew members including the skipper and the boat were detained and escorted to the Vessel Detention Centre at MMEA headquarters here for further investigation,” First Admiral Zin Azman said, adding that fishing equipment, about 7,000 litres of diesel and the catch of about one metric tonne were also confiscated, bringing the total to an estimated RM1mil.
