The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) stopped a tanker for attempting an illegal ship-to-ship fuel transfer in the eastern Johor waters.
According to the Johor MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria, the tanker was held about 3.45am some 6.7 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Balau in Kota Tinggi.
Moreover, the stop was made after MMEA received information from the Fire and Rescue Department, which received a report from a crew member of the detained ship that they were forced to allow an unidentified tanker to approach for an unknown purpose.
After confirming the information with the detained ship, MMEA deployed its vessels to the location. MMEA stopped the tanker and detained its 10 Indonesian crew members.
Furthermore, MMEA noted that the tanker’s captain did not show any permission to anchor or carry out ship-to-ship fuel transfer.
Now, the captains and chief engineers of both vessels have been taken to the Tanjung Sedili maritime zone office for further investigation.
