Nineteen crew have been detained in Malaysia
A total of 19 crewmen from two marine tankers, including the captains, were detained for illegally transferring marine fuel off Kukup near Pontian.
Muar marine police operation force commanding officer Asst Supt Nordin Osman said the tankers Arowana Barcelona, from Malaysia, and Ocean Samudera from Singapore, were brought to the Kukup Terminal on Wednesday.
He said the vessels were caught for transferring fuel at 1.30pm some 2.8 nautical miles off Kukup.
“We were making our rounds when we spotted the two tankers next to each other.
“When we approached them, we saw the Malaysian ship transferring marine fuel into the Singapore ship,” he said here yesterday.
ASP Nordin said that about 50,000 litres of marine fuel worth about RM25,000 was transferred without approval and the crew was detained under Section 491(B) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1953.
The crewmen, aged between 25 and 50, have been handed over to maritime authorities at Tanjung Pelepas near Gelang Patah.
Source: The Star