PORT KLANG: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's (MMEA) Selangor beanch detained a container vessel that had anchored illegally in Malaysian waters.
Selangor Maritime director Captain (Maritime) Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh said the vessel was detained 22.5 nautical miles southwest of Sekinchan at about 1.20pm Friday (May 16).
He added the ship was detained following information from the Klang Area Control Centre's Sea Surveillance System.
"The ship's suspicious position was detected at about 9.20am and a check with the central region Marine Department found that the container vessel had anchored without permission," said Abdul Muhaimin.
A maritime patrol boat was sent to the location and initial inspection indicated that the the ship, which was registered in Liberia, was managed by a 44-year-old Russian captain with 23 crew members of various nationalities aged between 32 to 50 years old, added Abdul Muhaimin.
"All of them had complete identification documents.
"Further investigations found the ship's captain had failed to provide any documents showing permission to anchor and hence had commited a breach under the Merchant Ship Ordinance 1952 for docking without the Malaysian Marine director-general's permission," he added.
According to Abdul Muhaimin, a detention order was issued while the captain and second engineer of the vessel were taken to the Selangor Maritime Department headquarters for further investigations.
"If found guilty, they could face a fine of not more than RM100,000 or a jail term of two years or both," said Abdul Muhaimin.
Abdul Muhaimin added the MMEA would continue to strengthen monitoring and law enforcement in Malaysian waters, especially off Selangor.
He urged members of the public to channel any complaints, information, or emergency incidents at sea by contacting the emergency line 999, the Selangor Maritime operations centre (013-660 6652) or the Malaysian Maritime operations centre (03-8995 7820) for immediate response.
