PASIR PUTEH, July 1 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a cargo ship loaded with cigarettes that anchored in the Kelantan's waters without activating the Automatic Identification System (AIS) at 10.45 am last Friday.
State maritime director Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi said the ship was found to be anchored suspiciously.
He said MMEA made the arrest after receiving information about the vessel's alleged law violation.
"An inspection found the captain on board along with seven Indonesian crew aged between 23 and 48 years old, and the freighter was believed to be shipping four containers of cigarettes," he said today.
According to him, the captain failed to present a letter of permission to drop anchor from the Malaysian Marine Department, and the ship's manifest document that was submitted was also doubtful.
He said the ship and all crew were escorted to the Kelantan maritime zone for further investigation under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (MSO) 1952, Section 491B(1)(l) for anchoring without permission and Section 491E of the same Ordinance for failing to activate the AIS (maritime tracking using transponders, vessel name, and call signs) without reasonable cause.
-- BERNAMA
