BINTULU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) here has detained two tugboats in separate operations for failing to comply with regulations involving the registration of their skippers.
A passenger white-coloured tugboat was intercepted yesterday morning (May 11) about one nautical mile northwest of the Kemena River estuary during routine patrols under ‘Op Permai’ and ‘Op Tiris’.
MMEA Bintulu director Captain Muhammad Suffian Eldine Abdulla said the vessel was manned by two local men, aged 24 and 50.
“Initial investigations found that the vessel had failed to report a change of skipper to the port officer, an offence under Section 477(2) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (MSO) 1952,” he said in a statement yesterday (May 11).
The offence is punishable by a fine or compound.
Earlier, in a separate operation on Saturday evening (May 10), a tugboat was also stopped about three nautical miles northwest of the same river mouth.
Suffian said the white tugboat which was en route to the open sea, was found to be crewed by six individuals, including an Indonesian national serving as the skipper, a Myanmar national, and a local crew member, all aged between 23 and 51 years old.
“Initial investigations revealed the vessel had failed to inform the Registrar of Ships in writing about a change in the skipper’s name on the vessel’s registration certificate as required under Section 22(2A) of the MSO 1952,” he said in a statement yesterday (May 11).
The offence carries a compound fine of RM2,500.
Both tugboats and their crew were escorted to the MMEA Binutlu Zone Vessel Detention Centre for further investigation.
Meanwhile, maritime community if reminded to always comply with all rules and regulations, and observe safety procedures to prevent and minimise the risk of untoward incidents at sea.
The public is also urged to report complaints or emergencies at sea via the emergency hotline 999 or contact the MMEA Bintulu Operations Centre at 086-314254 or MMEA Sarawak Operations Centre at 082-432544.
