KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will fully enforce regulations pertaining to illegal ship-to-ship transfer of crude oil in Malaysian waters beginning this month, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic).
The Foreign Minister said ships caught doing this will face fines and their ships held.
“We do not want to be accused of being a country that facilitates these activities.
“We will defend our waters so such actions can be prevented,” he said at an exit press conference after the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings here on Friday (July 11).
“It will be enforced soon. It will be enforced in July and there is already a Cabinet decision,” he added.
He also acknowledged that there will be many quarters upset with this.
“Regardless, we will be enforcing it,” he added.
On how Malaysia balances its strategic relations with the United States and China, Mohamad said Malaysia is a trading nation and cannot afford to be seen leaning towards anyone.
“We have to navigate our foreign policies. We have to be neutral,” he said.
