Syed Nor Adli shows a photograph of the seized vessel.
MIRI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) arrested 11 Thai crew members on a Tanjung Manis registered fishing vessel near Boko Alpha oil rig on Tuesday.
MMEA Miri commanding officer Syed Nor Adli Syed Abdul Rahman told a press conference yesterday that the Thais will be remanded for encroaching upon the prohibited area.
“This is the first case reported this year where a vessel was found encroaching 500 metres from oil rigs and platforms under the present law,” he said. Syed Nor Adli said Petronas had reported that the vessel was found to be fishing within the prohibited area around 11am that day.
MMEA Miri then dispatched a vessel to Boko Alpha and arrested those on the class C-2 vessel around 4.30pm and towed it back here.Syed Nor Adli said if found guilty, the foreign crew members could be jailed up to two years and fined a maximum RM1,000. He also advised local fishermen not to fish within 500 metres of oil rigs and platforms or face arrest.
Meanwhile, he said MMEA has not received any reports that its personnel were found stopping anglers or divers from fishing and diving at Luconia Shaols and Beting Patinggi Ali, which are sports fishing areas under the Tourism Ministry.
“So far MMEA Miri did not receive any report of that issue. However, we will investigate the case if there is any,” he added.