Malaysia Detains 3 Vessels Over Illegal Oil Transfer
Three oil tanker ships were detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) off the waters of Pengerang for illegal ship-to-ship transfer of marine fuel oil (MFO) near Pengerang.
Tanjung Sedili District Maritime Enforcement head, Maritime Capt Amran Daud said all three vessels were detained by a patrol boat at 9.15am about 3.8 nautical miles southeast of Ramunia Bay.
Daud said the three ships were each registered in San Lorenzo in Peru, Kuching in Sarawak and Jakarta, Indonesia, respectively.
"When detained, it was found that the MT Atami Maru was registered in San Lorenzo and has 16 Thai crew and one Indonesian crew on board and were transfering suspected marine fuel oil (MFO) to two ships, MT TB Macallan and MT TB LL Lamborghini," he said in a statement.
MT TB Macallan, which was registered in Kuching, Sarawak was bringing local crew, four Myanmar crew and an Indonesian crew. The MT TB LL Lamborghini was registered in Jakarta, Indonesia and had eight Indonesian crew members.
He said the crew of the three vessels were, aged 20 to 50, and investigation also found that these vessels did not have the document or permit relating to oil transferring activities.
The vessels, he added, had also committed other offences such as failure to notify the Malaysian authorities of their arrival in Malaysian waters and anchoring in a restricted area. This is the fifth case where vessels were caught transferring fuel illegally.
