MMEA detains another Vietnamese fishing boat
KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has seized a Vietnamese vessel with a crew of 20 for trespassing in Kudat waters on Thursday, a day after a similar incident near Mantanani Island.
Kudat Maritime Zone director Commander Boon Chin Chau said the crew members, aged between 18 and 51, were intercepted about 34 nautical miles from Tanjung Simpang Mengayau in Kudat district.
In a statement yesterday, he said Kudat MMEA apprehended them for offences under the Fisheries Act 1985 for fishing without the Fisheries director’s permission, and under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not possessing valid identification documents.
“The boat with fishing equipment, fish and the suspects were brought to the Kudat Maritime Jetty for further investigations,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, five Vietnamese fishermen and their foreign vessel were detained and brought to the Sepanggar Maritime Jetty for encroaching near Mantanani Island.