MELAKA – A Malta-registered vessel with 26 crew members on board was detained for anchoring without permission at about 4.9 nautical miles southwest of Pulau Upeh here yesterday.
Melaka and Negri Sembilan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency deputy director (operations) Azman Samsudin said the ship, MT TAHITI IMO No. 9600877, was detained at about 1.15pm for failing to submit a document from the director of the Marine Department on it being allowed to anchor at the location.
He said crew members on the tanker, aged between 19 and 56, comprised citizens of the Republic of Hellenic, Romania, the Philippines and Russia.
"The arrest was made based on information from the Marine Department that there was a tanker anchored outside the Melaka port boundary,” he said in a statement today, adding that action against the ship was taken under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.
Members of the public with information on crime or emergencies at sea are advised to contact the Melaka and Negri Sembilan Maritime Operations Centre at 06-387-6730 or MERS 999. – Bernama, December 31, 2020