MMEA seeks ship with UAV to nab illegal foreign boats

KUANTAN: A mothership with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is needed to increase the range of surveillance in the country’s waters, said the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

“With the UAV, we can take pictures of foreign fishing vessels using their illegal trawls which can be used as evidence in courts,” said MMEA directorgeneral Maritime Admiral Datuk Zulkifli Abu Bakar.

A mothership can carry a UAV and six boats.

“With more boats we can better monitor a larger radius of the sea and if there is a group of foreign boats, we can coordinate more effective arrests, maybe two boats to arrest while another two to gather their trawls as evidence,” he added.

Zulkifli said to buy a brand new ship would cost more than RM500mil, so another option would be to purchase an existing ship and upgrade it into a mothership.

The second option should be half or three quarters of the original price, he added.

MMEA has submitted its request for a mothership to the Government.

Zulkifli said that 102 foreign boats, all of them from Vietnam, had been seized so far this year compared to more than 60 in the past two years.

He was at the agency’s headquarters here to witness the handing over of duties of MMEA east coast region director First Admiral Datuk Mamu Said Alee to First Admiral Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Omar.

Zulkarnain, the former MMEA northern region director, replaces Mamu who goes on mandatory retirement today.

“During his (Mamu) tenure as east coast region director, he formed good relationships with the state governments in Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan,” said Zulkifli.

“Datuk Mamu’s retirement is a huge loss to MMEA, but I believe his legacy will live on through the officers and personnel.”

Mamu served with the Royal Malaysian Navy for 28 years before joining MMEA in 2008.