PONTIAN: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency has detained a tanker for anchoring illegally approximately four nautical miles west of Tanjung Piai this morning.
Johor Maritime Acting Director Maritime Captain Kama Azri Kamil said his team received information about the incident from the state Maritime Operations Centre.
The PERKASA 42 vessel was deployed to the location as part of the Ops Jaksa, Ops Todak, and Ops Tiris 3.0 patrols.
Subsequently, the ship was detained at 5:30 am following its unauthorised anchoring activity.
“The inspection found 23 crew members, comprising 19 Indian nationals, two Tanzanian nationals, one Myanmar national, and one Egyptian national, aged between 23 and 51,“ he said in a statement today.
Kama Azri confirmed that all crew members were found to have valid identification documents.
However, the captain failed to produce any documentation of permission to anchor in Malaysian waters from the Director of the Malaysian Marine Department.
The chief officer and chief engineer, along with several documents related to the tanker, were also detained.
They were taken to the Sungai Pulai Malaysian Maritime Jetty before being handed over to an investigating officer for further action.
“The vessel, which is registered in Panama, was detained on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 491B(1)(l) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952,“ he added.
Kama Azri emphasised that enforcement in Johor waters will continue to be stepped up.
He stated that authorities will not compromise with any violation of the law that could threaten the safety of the country’s waters.
Members of the public with information about any crimes or suspicious activities at sea can channel it to the MERS 999 emergency line.
They can also contact the Johor State Maritime Operations Centre at 07-2199401 to report maritime offences. – Bernama