The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone, detained two “kenka” boats at a position 0.26 nautical miles southwest of Kuala Gula yesterday.
Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Director, Maritime Commander Mohd Najhan Azman Hamid said that during a routine patrol, the MMEA patrol boat team detected that the two boats involved were moving in a suspicious manner and were intercepted and detained for inspection. He goes on to say that the boats were arrested at around 12 noon because they had violated licence conditions.
“Based on the results of the inspection on the two boats involved, a total of four local crew were found, including the skipper, aged between 31 and 62 years old.
“Further inspection of the boat documents found that both boats have valid licences but the owners had violated the terms of the licence by not operating the boats themselves,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mohd Najhan said that 100 kilograms (km) of fish fertiliser were also found during the inspection.
He also said that all fishing crews, boats, fishing equipment and fish fertiliser products were taken to the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Jetty for further action.
“The case is being investigated under Section 8 (b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for violating licence conditions,” he added.
Maritime Malaysia is always committed to combating criminal activities at sea.
Any criminal misconduct and emergencies that occur at sea can be reported to Maritime Malaysia at MERS 999 which operates 24 hours a day or the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone Operations Centre at 05-7279919.
by Rosli Mansor
