Russian Tanker Detained in Malaysia
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained a Russian oil tanker Zolotoi Most along with 25 crew members for anchoring off Tanjung Piai without authorization, says a report in the Sputnik.
"The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency has confirmed the detention of the Russian oil tanker near the state of Johor at 12:30 local time [04:30 GMT] on August 18. The tanker was detained over the absence of authorization documents for anchorage," the Russia’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur said.
MMEA Johor Baru operations deputy director Commander Iskandar Ishak said that a patrolling unit received information that the vessel MT ZOLOTOJ MOST had anchored 3.5 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Piai here at about 9am on Thursday.
“During inspection, the crew members failed to produce documents from the Marine Department to show that they were allowed to anchor there. On top of that, the vessel was anchored at a prohibited area limited to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas,” he said in a statement.
He said MT Zolotoj Most, which was carrying 31,000 metric tonnes of marine fuel oil (MFO), is said to have been sailing from Bangladesh and had anchored at the location to wait for its schedule from the agent.
The Russian diplomats "are closely watching the developments;" however, "the embassy has not received any appeals from the vessel’s crew or the ship-owner for assistance," the embassy said.
