Malaysia: MMEA detains Liberia-registered boxship for illegal anchoring off Sekinchan

The Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Sunday (18 May) said it detained a Liberia-registered container ship for anchoring without permission at 22.5 nautical miles southwest of Sekinchan at about 1.20pm on 16 May.

Selangor Maritime director Maritime Captain Maritime Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh said the Klang Area Control Centre’s Maritime Surveillance System detected the position of the suspicious vessel at about 9.20am. 

He said checks with the Central Region Maritime Department found that the container ship did not apply for permission to anchor. 

Preliminary inspection found that the ship was registered in Liberia and is operated by a 44-year-old Russian captain along with 23 crew from various nationalities aged between 32 to 50 years. All of them had complete identification documents.

Further investigation found that the captain of the ship failed to present any documents showing permission to anchor. 

Following that, Abdul Muhaimin said a detention order was issued for the vessel while the captain and a Second Engineer were brought to the Selangor Maritime Department headquarters for further investigations. 

The case is being investigated under the Merchant Ship Ordinance 1952 for docking without permission from the Malaysian Marine Department director-general. 

“If found guilty, they could be imposed a fine of not more than MYR 100,000 or a jail term of two years or both,” he said. 

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 19 May, 2025