Fishing vessel, crew detained for breaching conditions of licence

MIRI: A fishing vessel and its crew of five Indonesian citizens have been detained for not complying with the conditions of its licence.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s ( MMEA) District 13 chief Fauzi Othman said the vessel was detained at about 10.30am Sunday some 11 nautical miles from Pantai Bakam.

“During the patrol operation, one of our maritime vessels located its position and subsequently inspected the boat,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.

“Upon inspection, it is found that the fishing vessel was fishing less than 12 nautical miles away, which breached the conditions contained in its licence,” he said.

Fauzi revealed that five crew members including the anchorman are Indonesians.

“Further investigation found that the anchorman had no identification document and claimed to be a substitute anchorman for the boat.

“The other crew members had full identification document.

“All those detained are between 35 and 39 years old,” he disclosed.

Twenty kilograms of fish catch valued at RM30 were also seized, said Fauzi.

The case is being investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 and the Immigration Act 1959.

Fauzi said the MMEA welcomes information from the maritime community on any unlawful activities directly to Maritime Miri Zone Operations Centre at 085- 418204.