Duo nabbed, including undocumented teen for violating boat license terms off Tawau waters

KOTA KINABALU: Two men, including an undocumented teenager, were nabbed in waters off Tawau during the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) operations on Monday (May 6) for failing to produce a boat license and violating its terms.

MMEA Tawau zone director Maritime Captain Shahrizan Raman said the duo were detained separately, the 15-year-old at 11.40am and the 37-year-old boat captain later at 6pm.

“The team was conducting operations, codenamed Ops Pluto Timur 2/2023 and Ops Tiris, when they spotted a fishing boat in the waters off Wallace Bay, about 1.17 nautical miles northeast of Sidam Island in the morning.

“Upon inspecting, they found the undocumented teenager, who also failed to produce the boat licence,” said Shahrizan.

Nearly seven hours later, the team apprehended a local man who was captaining a passenger boat at 1.0 nautical miles from the Sungai Aji Kuning River loaded with 100 boxes of carrots.

“The man had failed to declare the cargo and was found violating the passenger boat licence terms,” said Shahrizan.

He added that the duo were taken to the Tawau maritime zone jetty and were investigated under the Ports and Harbours Enactment 2002, Immigration Act 1956/63 and Customs Act 1967.

All seized items, including two boats and cargo, have been valued at RM45,000.

Shahrizan urged the community to comply with maritime laws, adding that they will not hesitate to apprehend offenders who fail to do so.

“We will strengthen enforcement duties and optimise operations to combat activities that violate maritime laws, especially in the waters of the Eastern Sabah SecurityZone (Esszone).