KUALA TERENGGANU: The Terengganu Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained seven Indonesian men for allegedly trespassing on an unmanned oil platform in the Tembikai Field, 77 nautical miles from the waters off Kuala Terengganu, yesterday.
Its director Maritime Captain Mohd Khairulanuar Abdul Majid said that the agency was alerted to the incident at 1.30 pm on Wednesday by a local oil exploration company, the owner of the platform.
“A crew member from the platform’s operations team detected signs of trespassing and found someone hiding in the generator room while conducting a routine inspection.
“KM Rawa, on an Op IMAN assignment, was dispatched to the location and arrived at the platform at 9 pm on Wednesday. However, rough seas made it difficult to bring the boat closer, and the personnel only managed to board at 11.30 am on Thursday,” he told a press conference here today.
Mohd Khairulanuar added that the inspection led to the arrest of the suspects, aged between 25 and 45, who were found hiding in the ventilation room.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had been taken to the platform by boat and were abandoned by the boat skipper, who fled upon noticing the presence of a ship carrying the platform’s operations crew members.
Mohd Khairulanuar said that the MMEA also seized equipment believed to have been used by the suspects to steal valuable items from the platform, following the discovery of cut cables and batteries that had been piled up.
He said the agency was still assessing the value of the seized items, but the theft could affect the company’s operations and production, potentially causing losses of tens of millions of ringgit per day.
“We know that this unmanned platform helps support production. Stealing items like solar panels, batteries, and cables that generate power for the system will halt production.
“We believe this is not the first time this group has committed such an act and do not rule out the possibility that they are linked to three other reported cases, two on Jan 23 and one on Feb 7. No arrests were made in those cases, but Alhamdulillah we were able to catch them this time,” he said.
Mohd Khairulanuar said the three earlier cases in Pulai-A, Gansar, and West Belumut A were near the border of a neighbouring country, but Tembikai was the closest to the waters off Kuala Terengganu, suggesting the syndicate was becoming bolder.
“These unmanned platforms are under our watch, but we are also requesting the cooperation of the companies to increase security at their respective premises, as we have seen that many of these cases occur during the monsoon season, when it is difficult for our personnel and boats to reach them,” he said.
Mohd Khairulanuar said that all suspects have been remanded for seven days starting today to assist in investigations under Section 378 of the Penal Code.
