MIRI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has detained a tugboat off Miri after its captain failed to present a change-of-master letter and did not hold the required competency certificate.
Miri Maritime Zone Director, Captain Mohd Khairol Anuar, said the vessel was intercepted at 11:10 am during ‘Ops Permai’, ‘Ops Tiris 3.0’ and ‘Ops Ambal’, about 2.6 nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Baram.
Five crew members – a Malaysian, a Myanmar national, and three Indian nationals aged 20 to 27 – were also arrested and handed to maritime investigators.
The case is being investigated under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.
Khairol said MMEA would continue patrols and monitoring work to safeguard national waters, warning there would be no compromise for breaches of maritime law.
The public has been urged to report suspicious activities or emergencies at sea via the Miri Maritime Operations Centre (085-649111), the Sarawak Maritime hotline (082-432544 / 082-432016) or emergency line 999.
