MIRI: The Miri Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained two fishing boats for various offenses on Tuesday (May 18).
Miri Zone Maritime director Captain Md Fauzi Othman said the first fishing boat was a foreign boat from Vietnam seized around 8.30am, at about 32 nautical miles off Kuala Niah.
Upon realising MMEA’s presence, the boat’s crew members released the fishing equipment into the sea as they attempted to dispose evidence to avoid arrest.
After further inspection, MMEA found that the vessel did not obtain permission from the director of Fisheries Malaysia to carry out fishing activities.
In addition to that, all six crew members including the vessel’s skipper, aged between 29 and 45, have no identification documents.
In the second arrest, a local fishing boat with seven Vietnamese crew members including the skipper, aged between 20 and 62, were detained.
The boat was detained at around 10 am, about 38 nautical miles from Kuala Niah.
Upon further inspection, it was discovered that the foreign workers had no valid self-identification documents — only two of the crew members have valid Vietnamese national passports.
The boat including its crew members, with 8,000 litres of diesel and their catch weighing at 500kg estimated to be worth around RM500,000, were escorted to a detention centre at Kampung Pulau Melayu, Miri for further investigation.
The case will be investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985, for carrying out fishing activities in Malaysian waters without a valid permit and the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to submit any valid identification documents.
All crew members will undergo Covid-19 screening as a precautionary measure upon arrival at the jetty.
For any information on any illegal activities at sea, the public can call up the Miri Maritime Zone Operations Centre at 085-418204 or the Sarawak Maritime Operations Centre at 082-432544 or MERS 999 which operates 24 hours.
