PUTRAJAYA: The Johor Baru High Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a foreign shipping company against the government and police over the alleged wrongful detention of its crew and seizure of cargo five years ago.
In his grounds of judgment dated March 26, Judge Datuk Seri Shamsulbahri Ibrahim ruled that Blue Ocean Shipping Limited had no locus standi to bring a claim for wrongful detention on behalf of the crew of MV Chita 2.
He said any claim for wrongful detention should have been filed by the crew members themselves.
The judge also held that the company was not entitled to claim US$1.4mil (RM5.7mil) in damages as there was no documentary evidence to support the claim.
Blue Ocean Shipping, a company registered in the Cook Islands, filed the suit in 2021 against the government and police, seeking damages over the alleged wrongful detention of the crew and loss of income from the cargo.
The company named several defendants, including former Johor police chief Tan Sri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, former Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and the Malaysian government.
Blue Ocean claimed that on March 8, 2021, MV Chita 2, which was sailing from Batam, Indonesia, to Yangon, Myanmar, carrying a cargo of cigarettes and 11 crew members, was detained near Pulau Kukup, Pontian.
However, the crew were released on March 12 the same year after a Magistrate’s Court rejected the police application for a remand order.
They were subsequently re-arrested under the Immigration Act and, on March 21 that year, charged in the Magistrate’s Court under the Customs Act, where they were convicted.
On Oct 15, 2023, the High Court allowed their appeal and acquitted all crew members of the charges, and ordered all seized contraband cigarettes be forfeited to the government.
Blue Ocean contended that MV Chita 2 was in international waters at the time of the detention and that the arrest of the crew was unlawful.
However, the defendants denied the claim, stating that the detention was based on intelligence indicating the vessel was carrying contraband cigarettes intended for distribution in Malaysia. – Bernama
