MMEA detains two foreign vessels for anchoring illegally off Johor

KOTA TINGGI: An oil tanker and a cargo ship were detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for anchoring illegally off Johor last Sunday (April 21).

Johor MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said that the foreign-registered vessels were apprehended at two different locations.

“The first to be detained was the Sierra Leone-registered cargo ship at 13.5 nautical miles (25km) east of Tanjung Penawar around 11am,’’ he said in a statement.

Nurul Hizam said there were 15 Bangladeshi and Indonesian crew members aged between 25 and 56 on board the ship when it was detained.

In the second incident, he said the Comoros-registered oil tanker was detained nine nautical miles (16.68km) southeast of Tanjung Balau near here.

“We also detained 29 crew members from India, Iran and Pakistan aged between 21 and 54 years,’’ added Nurul Hizam.

He said the captains from both vessels and the 21 crew members were brought to the Tanjung Sedili Maritime Zone headquarters for further action under Section 491B(1)(L) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.

“This brings the total number of merchant vessels detained to 297, including foreign and Malaysian-registered vessels under Ops Jangkar Haram since its launch on March 24, 2021, with 34 recorded within this year,’’ said Nurul Hizam.