The penang malaysian maritime enforcement agency (mmea) detained a class c local fishing vessel (vnt) of the trawler type after it was suspected of conducting fishing activities within the penang port limits and violating prescribed licence conditions. penang mmea director maritime captain muhammad suffi mohd ramli said the arrest followed information and complaints received from the penang port control at 9:30 pm last night, which found that the vessel was detected fishing within the port limits - approximately 2.6 nautical miles southwest of Pulau Rimau - and had also caused its fishing net to get entangled in the propeller of a pilot boat.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the MMEA patrol boat successfully detected the vessel at 10:45 pm at a position approximately 0.4 nautical miles east of Batu Maung, and inspection revealed that the vessel was operated by four crew members, including an Indonesian citizen with Permanent Resident status, all aged between 50 and 62 years old.

"The vessel along with all crew members were detained for suspected offences under the Fisheries Act 1985, which is for violating valid licence conditions by carrying out fishing activities at a distance of less than 15 nautical miles from the coast," he said in a statement today.

He added that all crew members, together with the vessel and assets estimated to be worth RM3 million, were brought to the Batu Maung Jetty before being handed over to the Penang MMEA Investigating Officer for further action and investigation.