PASIR PUTEH: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in Kelantan arrested 23 Vietnamese fishermen and seized two fishing vessels worth RM3 million in an operation on Thursday (Feb 22). The director of MMEA, Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi, revealed that the two boats were captured between 126 and 128 nautical miles off the Tok Bali estuary after being spotted at 7.22am during an operation along the Malaysia-Vietnam maritime borders.
Erwan Shah mentioned that at first, the two boats did not cooperate and attempted to flee towards the border of the country’s waters when instructed to stop. The MMEA vessels managed to intercept the first boat at 8.39am, followed by the second boat at 9.27am. Further inspections revealed that the first boat was operated by 17 crew members, including a skipper, while the second boat had six crew members, also including a skipper, with ages ranging from 19 to 63 years old.
The MMEA also confiscated around 1,000kg of catch, fishing equipment, navigation and communication tools, as well as supplies of 2,000 litres of diesel from the two boats. It took over 24 hours to tow the two boats before they arrived at the Kelantan Maritime jetty at 11am on Friday (Feb 23). Both fishing vessels are suspected of engaging in illegal fishing activities in the country’s waters, and the case is currently under investigation under Section 15(1)(a) for not displaying fishing authorization documents.
Additionally, the two skippers are suspected of violating Section 16(3) of the Fisheries Act 1985, while the crew members are being probed under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to show valid identification documents. Erwan Shah addressed these details during a press conference at the Kelantan MMEA office in Tok Bali on Sunday (Feb 25).
