PASIR PUTIH: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a Vietnamese fishing vessel with 14 crew members for encroaching into the country's waters at Tok Bali here last night.
MMEA District 10 maritime director Captain Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the vessel was carrying out illegal fishing activities when it was detained by MMEA patrol boat KM Amanah about 75.6 nautical miles off the beach about 10.20pm.
"The MMEA team led by Lieutenant Commander Mohd Fazrul Mohd Mustapa spotted the vessel and immediately approached them. After inspecting the vessel, the skipper failed to produce valid documents.
"They then arrested the skipper and his 13 crew members. Also seized were various types of fishes weighing about one tonne," he told a press conference here today.
Hizam said the crew members, aged between 23 and 58, were remanded for 14 days beginning today to facilitate investigation.
He said the case was the third recorded by the department so far this year. The vessel and the seizure were worth about nearly RM2 million.