MMEA detains fishing boat off Tok Bali for licence breach, immigration offences

New Straits Times

3 days ago

PASIR PUTEH: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in Kelantan detained a local fishing vessel with four crew members on Saturday for breaching the conditions of its licence.
State MMEA director Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi said the vessel was detained about 37 nautical miles off the Tok Bali estuary.
He said the MMEA patrol boat was conducting operations under Op Naga Barat, Op Damai, and Op Tiris when it spotted the vessel at about 2pm.
"Upon inspection, MMEA officers found four peopel onboard the vessel, including the skipper.
"All of them are believed to be Myanmar nationals, aged between 19 and 52.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that none of the crew members could produce valid identification documents.
"We also suspect that they do not possess passports or valid work permits recognised by the Malaysian government," Erwan said.
He said the offence was a violation of the vessel's licence conditions under the Fisheries Act 1985.
They were also believed to have committed immigration offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to present valid temporary employment visit passes (PLKS).
"The identification documents provided were also found to be questionable in terms of authenticity.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation into the vessel's ownership and the handling of foreign crew recruitment," he said.
During the operation, the agency also seized about 600kg of marine catch along with fishing equipment, with the total value of the seizure estimated at RM800,000.
He said the vessel, along with its skipper and crew, was escorted to the Kelantan Maritime jetty before being handed over to the Maritime investigating officer.