The Vietnamese crew of two fishing boats were detained for illegally fishing in Malaysian waters, while their vessels, worth RM2.4 million, were seized near the Kuala Terengganu estuary here on Monday.
State Maritime Department director Captain Maritime Rahim Ramli said the boats and crew were spotted by a team of enforcement officers on the KM Segantang about 102 nautical miles from the Kuala Terengganu estuary at around 8.30am.
Rahim said both boats tried to escape, but the first vessel D.Lima 12 was intercepted at 8.52am, while the second boat Delima 29 was cornered at 9.18am after a short chase.
“We arrested a tekong and 20 crew members, aged between 16 and 48, in the first boat; and four crew members, including a tekong, aged between 20 and 57, in the second boat,” he told reporters today.
Rahim said all 25 fishermen did not possess valid travel documents, and failed to produce valid permits for fishing in the area.
“We seized about 6,350kg of fish and 22,000 litres of diesel, as well as fishing equipment totalling RM1.2 million from each boat,” he added.
Rahim said both boats and fishermen were taken to the State Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) jetty in Pulau Kambing here for further investigation under Section 8 (b) of the Fishery Act 1985, the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Merchant Ship Ordinance 1952.
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