Five Vietnamese held for illegal fishing in Labuan waters

A Vietnamese fishing vessel with five crew members was detained by Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Saturday afternoon for allegedly encroaching the waters of Labuan for illegal fishing.

The vessel and the five Vietnamese crew including the skipper were detained for further investigations under the Fisheries Act 1985 and Immigration Act 1959/63.

Labuan MMEA director Commander Nor Bakari Abu Bakar said the vessel, registered under the name of One United as a cargo vessel was found to have carried out fishing activities illegally without licence.

"We were alerted by a public tip-off and when we approached the ship at 2.30 pm, they were busy loading the fish onto the vessel about 23.4 nautical miles off northwest of Kuraman Island," he said in a statement today.

All the detainees are aged between 22 and 35 years old and had undergone swab test by the Labuan Health Department's officers.

--BERNAMA