Six passenger boats detained for breaching conditions
KOTA BELUD: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained six passenger boats for committing offences under the Sabah Ports and Harbour Department Enactment.
Malaysian maritime patrol boats apprehended and inspected the boats between 10am and 11.30am at Rampayan waters near here.
Kota Kinabalu MMEA director First Admiral Adam Aziz said three of the boats were arrested on suspicion of passenger overload while the other three failed to produce valid licences and the names of employers did not match those in the licence. All the boats were thereafter escorted to the Teluk Usukan Jetty for further action.
Adam said the operation was conducted in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration to ensure tourist boats were registered and licensed under set conditions for passenger safety, especially since many tourists were going on holidays to Mantanani Island.
“Boat operators take advantage of the holiday season to transport and overload passengers to gain more profit without considering safety. The capsized catamaran case in February last year clearly did not have an impact on them,” he said.
The director further said MMEA would continue conducting operations using proactive approaches and decisive actions to safeguard the waters, especially in the west coast, so that it would not be jeopardised by the actions of some irresponsible operators.