MMEA detains Vietnamese fishing vessel
During the arrest, the enforcement team did not see any firearms inside the vessel.
MIRI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency ( MMEA) patrol boat stumbled upon ten Vietnamese vessels fishing illegally 30 miles off the coast here between Bokor oil rig and Helang oil rig on May 10 at about midday.
The MMEA patrol boat managed to detain one of them but while the enforcement personnel boarded the vessel, the other nine managed to cut off their fishing nets and fled away to International water.
MMEA enforcement personnel arrested 25 crew members and found and seized 3 tons of fish worth between RM30, 000 to RM50, 000 on the fishing vessel they boarded, MMEA District 13 Deputy Director of Operation Commander Mohd Hambali Yaakub said at a press conference held at MMEA Vessel Detention Centre at Kampung Pulau Melayu here yesterday afternoon.
He said, out of the 25 crew members aged between 17 and 58
Mohd Hambali Yaakub, MMEA District 13 Deputy Director of Operation Commander
years- old, only nine possessed personal documents.
He said the Vietnamese boat and its crew was towed to the MMEA Detention Centre yesterday afternoon. He said, the detained Vietnamese fishermen will be charged under the Fishery Department Act 1985 for fishing illegally in Sarawak water.
“During the arrest, the enforcement team did not see any firearms inside the vessel, “he added.
Mohd Hambali added that the detention of the foreign fishing vessel is part of an ongoing MMEA operation to curb encroachment of foreign fishing boats into Sarawak water.
On May 6, the Borneo Post highlighted the encroachment of ten foreign fishing vessels twenty miles off the coast here.
A fisherman, Stanley claimed that his fishing crew saw foreign fishing vessels near the Bokor platform two weeks earlier and reported the incident to the media.