MIRI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a tugboat with four Indonesian crews for failure to display its licence, 42 nautical miles Northwest of Miri River on Saturday morning.
MMEA Miri director, Eizanizam Muhammad Eng said, the tugboat skipper and three crew were detained during Ops Permai around 5am.
“The tugboat was detained after acting suspiciously,” he said in a statement.
Upon further inspection, the MMEA personnel found the crews aged 29 to 50 inside the boat.
“Two of them have valid documents, while the other two only have seafarer cards,” said Eizanizam.
The skipper failed to produce the tugboat’s identification documents.
The boat was then detained and escorted to the Kampung Pulau Melayu Vessel Detention Centre (PTV) for further investigation.
The case will be investigated under the Merchant Ships Ordinance 1952/60 for failing to produce a Domestic Shipping License and the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to produce a valid identification.
He added, MMEA always welcomes information from the maritime community to report any illegal activities and emergencies at sea directly to the MERS 999 line or the Miri Maritime Zone Operations Centre at 085-418204; Sarawak State Maritime Operations centre at 082-432 544 which operates 24 hours.
