PASIR PUTEH, 1 April 20-8:
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) ship KM Jujur, with 23 onboard, faced anxious moments when it was almost hit by a Vietnamese fishing boat – when it tried to haul up the vessel for encroaching.
Tok Bali D10 Maritime Operations deputy director Ismail Hamzah said the ship managed to avoid the fishing boat and detained it after a 40-minute pursuit – 102 nautical miles from Kuala Tok Bali at 8.41am on Friday.
“The skipper and five crew, aged between 32 and 52 years, were detained by MMEA and the boat was towed to the Tok Bali port for further investigation.
“The total amount of seizure is estimated at about RM80,000 including fishing and marine equipment,” he told a press conference at the Tok Bali MMEA office here yesterday.
He said the investigation is being carried out under the Fisheries Act 1985 and the Immigration Act for not having any valid documents.
He said Vietnamese illegal fishermen had lately been using a new tactic – by not being far from their fellow boats – which had local fishing permits – to fool Malaysian patrolling authorities.
“When the MMEA ship patrolled yesterday, there were eight boats in close proximity to each other and relaying information to each other on the presence of the authorities.”
– Bernama