JOHOR BARU: A Sarawak-registered cargo ship suspected of anchoring illegally in Johor waters has been seized by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) here.

       Johor MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said that the Kuching-registered cargo ship was nabbed at about 9.10am on Wednesday (Aug 25), some 3.8 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Punggai, Kota Tinggi.

       "Early investigation showed that all 12 crewmen on board are Indonesians between the ages of 30 and 70 years and all have valid identification documents.

       "The captain has failed to provide any documents showing that they have attained permission to anchor from the Malaysia Maritime director," he said in a statement issued here on Thursday (Aug 26).

       He said that all crewmen have been arrested while the captain and chief engineer have been brought to the Tanjung Sedili Zone Maritime office for further investigations under Section 491B(1)(l) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952 for illegal anchoring.

       Nurul Hizam said that the Johor MMEA has seized a total of 90 ships since January this year for illegal anchoring, adding that 72 of the ships were nabbed under the Jangkar Haram operation launch in March.