PONTIAN: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a tanker for illegally anchoring on Tuesday (Sept 23) at 5.30am.
Johor MMEA acting director Maritime Captain Kama Azri Kamil said the Panama-registered tanker was detained at about 4 nautical miles (7.40km) west of Tanjung Piai near here.
He said the tanker was detained in an operation codenamed Ops Jaksa/Ops Todak by a patrolling boat Perkasa 42 which was deployed to the scene.
"Further investigation found there were 23 crew on board of different nationalities aged between 23 and 51," Kama Azri said in a statement.
He said those detained were one Egyptian, one Myanmar national, two Tanzanians and 19 Indian nationals, and all of them possess valid documents.
"However, the captain failed to produce documents from the Director of Maritime authorising anchoring in the Malaysian waters," added Kama Azri.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 491B(1)(I) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952, which requires vessels to notify the Director of Marine when undertaking certain activities in Malaysian waters.
A violation of this section, often for anchoring without permission.
"The chief officer and the chief engineer together with the documents on the vessel were brought to the Sungai Pulai Maritime Jetty to assist with the investigation," said Kama Azri.
He said the case will be forwarded to the Johor Maritime investigating officer for further action.
Kama Azri called upon those with information on marine-related crime activities in Johor waters to channel the details to MERS Emergency Line 999 or contact the Johor Maritime Operation Centre at 07-2199401.
