By Aida Aziz
Photo: APMM
LUMUT: Perak’s Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) arrested two trawlers at a position 5.3 nautical miles southwest of the Sungai Tiram estuary around 10am yesterday.
Its director, Maritime Captain Mohd Hambali Ya’akup, said the arrest was made by a patrol boat that was carrying out Op Pintas, Op Tiris and Op Khas Pagar Laut patrols.
Included was an aerial survey by the Deputy Director General (Logistics) who is also the acting Director General of Maritime Malaysia.
“The results of the initial inspection found that the first boat was operated by a skipper and a local crew and two Myanmar nationals, each aged between 34 and 64 years
“They are suspected of violating license conditions for employing foreign workers without the permission of the Director General of Fisheries, in addition to not having valid identification documents.
“While the results of the inspection of the second boat found that it was operated by a skipper and two Myanmar nationals, each aged 28 to 45, suspected of committing the same offence,” he said today.
He said the skipper and crew of both boats had committed an offense under Section 8 (b) of the Fisheries Act 1985, which was in violation of the valid conditions of the license and the Immigration Act 1959/63.
All the crew and the boat and the spoils were detained for further investigation.
Maritime Malaysia would like to remind the fishing community to always comply with the laws set because even though the festive season is approaching, law enforcement will never compromise on any party that tries to commit an offense in the country’s waters.
Any information and complaints regarding enforcement and incidents at sea, the public can contact the Perak State Maritime Operations Center at 05-6838737 or MERS 999 for immediate response.
