The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is aware of news articles by Malaysian media (Sinar Harian and Berita Harian (Malaysia) alleging that a Police Coast Guard (PCG) boat had entered Malaysia Territorial Waters (MTW) and headed towards the fishing net laid by a Malaysian fishing vessel. This is untrue.
The facts of the incident are as follow.
- On 14 August 2023 at 6.55am, PCG officers were patrolling Singapore Territorial Waters (STW) when they spotted a Malaysian fishing vessel in STW at the sea off Tuas. At the time, there were a few other fishing vessels in the vicinity, but they were in MTW. PCG officers engaged the fisherman on board the fishing vessel in STW and advised him to leave STW.
- After the engagement, a fishing net became entangled with the propellors of the PCG boat as the PCG boat was reversing to try to avoid entering MTW. The fishing net was subsequently damaged in the process of untangling it from the propellors.
- PCG officers were enforcing Singapore’s laws within STW.
The SPF notes that the fisherman involved in the incident on 14 August 2023 was also involved in a previous incident in October 2022, when he was advised to leave a live firing area in STW for his own safety. During the October 2022 incident, he had also falsely claimed that he was in MTW when he was in fact in STW. The SPF had similarly issued a clarification regarding his allegations. Please see Annex for the Police News Release on the incident that happened in October 2022.
Annex – Police News Release on 25 October 2022 incident
Police News Release on 25 October 2022: https://www.police.gov.sg/media-room/news/20221025_police_statement_on_incident_between_pcg_officers_and_malaysia_fishing_vessels
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
20 August 2023 @ 10:35 AM