BINTULU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has detained a local fishing boat and arrested six crew members for allegedly fishing outside the permitted zone as specified in their licence on Friday (March 31).
MMEA Bintulu Zone director Captain Mohd Khairol Anuar Saad, in a statement, said the arrest took place some 9.6 nautical miles off Simalajau around 9am.
“An undercover boat assigned to monitor the area, a hotspot for fishing activities, detected the suspicious boat and detained it for inspections.
“They found that the boat was operated by six crew members, including its skipper — one local and five Indonesians, aged between 28 and 56,” he said.
During inspections, one of the foreign crew members failed to present his identification document, while the other four were suspected of abusing the passes or permits that had been given.
All of them, along with the boat, fishing equipment, and 300 kilogrammes of freshly caught fish worth around RM500,000, were escorted to the Bintulu Maritime Zone Vessel Detention Centre for further action.
Mohd Khairol said the case will be investigated under Section 8(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for violating the valid conditions of the licence, which may result in a compound from the Malaysian Fisheries Department.
Apart from that, the foreign crew members will be investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for allegedly misusing the work pass or permit and failing to present a valid identification document.
The maritime community is encouraged to channel information and complaints pertaining to suspicious activity or emergencies at sea to the Bintulu Maritime Zone Maritime Operations Centre at 086-314254 and the Sarawak Maritime Operations Centre at 082-432544.
