According to the news report Malaysia protested Indonesia’s detention of two vessels suspected of fishing illegaly in the Indonesian part of the Malacca Strait. On the other hand Indonesia’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries confirmed that its patrol boat, the Hiu, on Thursday detained two Malaysian vessels, carrying five Thai and Burmese crew members, suspected of fishing illegally with trawl nets.
As per the statement of a spokesman for the Maritime Ministry the crews of the boats are now detained at the Belawan navy port [in Medan, North Sumatra] and this is the result of our cooperation with the Maritime Security Coordination Agency [Bakorkamla]. On their part Malaysian authorities said it was the Indonesian boat that had clearly violated international law, claiming the boats were seized from Hutan Melintang, Perak in the Malacca Strait about 45 kilometers from the maritime border.
News agency states that Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said that international arbitration will be needed if the talks to resolve the Maritime issue remain deadlocked. The technical committee has met 18 times over the past seven years without having any results. Both the nations have tried enough to resolve the border dispute in many ways but in vain.
