Russian tanker detained off Johor

JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a Russian oil tanker along with 25 crew members for anchoring off Tanjung Piai without permission.

Its Johor Baru operations deputy director Commander Iskandar Ishak said that a patrolling unit received information that the vessel MT ZOLOTOJ MOST  had anchored 3.5 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Piai here at about 9am on Thursday.

“During inspection, the crew members failed to produce documents from the Marine Department to show that they were allowed to anchor there.

“On top of that, the vessel was anchored at a prohibited area limited to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas,” he said in a statement.

Iskandar added that the vessel also failed to inform the local authorities upon arriving in Malaysian waters.