PASIR PUTEH, March 19 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in Kelantan arrested 23 Vietnamese fishermen for trespassing in national waters with an illegal seafood catch valued at RM3 million at the mouth of the Tok Bali river here last Saturday.

Kelantan MMEA director Capt Erwan Shah Soahdi said all the arrests were made by a maritime vessel that was patrolling the Malaysia-Vietnam sea border under Op Damai, Op Naga Barat and Op Tiris.

He said the two suspicious boats were spotted at about 11am before the first boat was detained at 11.28am, followed by the second boat at 12.14pm.

According to him, the two boats initially tried to escape to the border when MMEA officer gave orders to stop the vessels.

"Seeing the protracted situation, öur maritime vessel intercepted the boats and boarded by force to stop them,” he said at the Kelantan MMEA headquarters today.

Erwan Shah said the first boat was manned by a crew of 18 while the second boat had five on board including the skippers aged between 16 and 55 years.

He said further inspection confirmed both were foreign Vietnamese fishing boats while the process of towing the vessels took more than 35 hours before arriving at the Kelantan Maritime Jetty at about 11pm on Sunday to be handed over to investigating officers.

"Apart from the two boats that were arrested, the seizure this time also involved the confiscation of about 1,000 kilogrammes of seafood, fishing equipment, navigation and communication equipment and 2,500 litres of diesel,” he said.

Erwan Shah said the boats ran foul for illegal fishing in national waters and would be investigated under Section 15 (1) (a) for failing to display any fishing authorisation documents in Malaysian waters.

"The two tekong (skippers) are also suspected of violating Section 16 (3) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for failing to inform the authorities via radio or facsimile about the name of the country, flag, location of the route and destination of the vessel, in the case of entering Malaysian fishing waters,” he said.

He said all the crew will also be investigated under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to produce any valid identification documents.

"Any information regarding criminal activities or incidents at sea can be passed on officially through Malaysia Emergency Response Services 999 or the Kelantan Maritime Operations Centre at 09-778 0070,” he added. — Bernama