KUALA NERUS (Malaysia), June 22 (NNN-Bernama) — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has scuttled 446 foreign fishing vessels forfeited by the courts since 2008 till today, with a total value of RM1.7 billion (US$365.5 million).
Its deputy director-general (administration), Khairul Anwar Bachok said the vessels, 95 per cent of them from Vietnam and the remaining from Thailand, were seized for offences under the Fisheries Act 1985 for illegal fishing.
“The vessels were disposed by scuttling conducted by the MMEA in Malaysian waters, including in (the state of) Perak, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak based on the court orders.
“The vessels were disposed with the assistance of the Fisheries Department, the Marine Department and the South East Asian Marine Resources Institute,” he told the media after attending the scuttling of three Vietnamese vessels in the waters of Pulau Bidong here Thursday.
He said that the waters of the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia were directly bordering that of Vietnam, allowing foreign fishermen from that country to enter illegally into Malaysian waters.
Khairul Anwar said that was why the states of Terengganu had the most vessel seizures, with 159 vessels scuttled to act as artificial reefs and seven had been already scuttled this year by the MMEA at the cost of RM239 million (US$51.4 million), with another 20 more boats due to be disposed as soon as the courts ordered their forfeiture.
— NNN-BERNAMA