The Kelantan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Thursday (22 May) said it has detained a suspicious tanker at about 100 nautical miles from the Tok Bali estuary on 20 May. 

Kelantan MMEA director, Maritime Captain Erwan Shah Soahdi said an MMEA asset had detained the tanker while patrolling the Malaysia-Vietnam border. 

The vessel was detected after displaying several suspicious signs at around 1 pm before it was successfully detained 20 minutes later.

“Initial checks revealed the vessel has six crew members, including a captain and all are believed to be Thai citizens aged between 38 and 70,” he said.

It was also found that the insurance documents and other documents related to the vessel appeared suspicious and all the crews on board the vessel failed to provide valid identification documents during the check. 

The case is being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952.

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 23 May, 2025

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

A Liberia-flagged Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessel, Spec Nichole, was arrested in Singapore waters on Saturday (3 May). 

The vessel was added to the list of vessels under Sheriff’s arrest in Singapore’s court system. 

According to the list, the vessel was arrested at 10.17am and the arresting solicitor listed was law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. The ship is currently held at Western Anchorage – Grid 4914A.

No details were provided in the list regarding the reason behind the arrest.

According to a social media post two months ago, the vessel is operated by ABC Maritime, a Swiss-based family-owned group of companies.

ABC Maritime commercially and technically manages a fleet of vessels including chemical tankers, offshore support vessels and bulkers.

Photo credit: ABC Maritime
Published: 7 May, 2025