BUTTERWORTH – A tugboat’s recent encroachment on Malaysian waters and illegal docking at Penang Port here was due to a medical emergency, and not an act of aggression, said the Iranian embassy.
It cited the poor health of two Iranian crewmen as the main reason for the firefighting vessel’s entry into Malaysian territory.
In a statement issued last night, the embassy said the duo’s condition led to the skipper’s decision to steer into the Penang Channel.
The MV Fire Man Zanzibar, a private-company boat registered in Tanzania, was sailing from Japan to Iran when the incident happened on December 11, it said.
The statement added that embassy officials were in contact with the relevant Malaysian authorities from the start of the incident, and are monitoring the crew’s health.
Their condition was confirmed by officials at Seberang Jaya Hospital, where they were taken after berthing.
The embassy expressed appreciation for the assistance rendered and humanitarian response by the Maritime Department and other authorities.
The tugboat had illegally entered Malaysian waters and berthed, initially without being noticed, at the N1 terminal of the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT), despite orders to remain in international waters.
The Vibes reported that when port officers and security forces entered the boat, they found the two crewmen, in their late 40s, sick and starving, with no food on board. The crew also did not have money.
One of the men was discharged from hospital a day later and brought back to the vessel, while the other was discharged two days later.
The Covid-19 test results for the duo and their skipper, also an Iranian, returned negative.
Police are expected to detain them for trespassing and docking without permission, before they are repatriated.
Questions have been raised about how the vessel could have easily trespassed on a port without enforcement escort, and the implications this poses for security along the country’s coasts.
The nation’s maritime borders have varying layers of security provided by the navy, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, inshore marine police, and the marine authority.
Officials said the breach raised the alarm on national security, and the authorities are looking to revise standard operating procedures to prevent a recurrence.
According to an internal communique sighted by The Vibes, the three crew members will be held at the Seberang Prai Utara district police headquarters’ lock-up before they are handed over to the Immigration Department, which has been directed to correspond with the Iranian embassy to arrange their return to their home country.
It is understood that government divisions and enforcement agencies, comprising police, the National Security Council, Customs Department, Immigration Department and port authorities, among others, held a meeting at the Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal on Wednesday to discuss the next course of action regarding the matter.
The Marine Department earlier launched a probe to investigate how the boat and its crew sailed illegally into Malaysian waters and docked at NBCT without approval.
The communique also said although the vessel was registered in Zanzibar, Tanzania, the Marine Department found its provisional certificate of registry to be fake.
Given this, the boat will not be allowed to sail away from the port, and will be quarantined at the Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal for investigations.
The authorities said they did not find any contraband on board.
From the discussions on Wednesday, they said the NBCT management needs to file a police report on the matter, while Special Branch will further investigate the crewmen’s backgrounds.
The tugboat is now being supervised by the Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal, with the Marine Department contacting its owner to have it returned.
If there are no claims within a year, the department will declare the boat as wreckage before undertaking the process of disposal. – The Vibes, December 25, 2020
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