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Two vessels have been detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) for allegedly being involved in the illegal transfer of marine fuel off the coast of Malaysia, according to local media sources.

The ships were seized yesterday evening approximately 2.8 nautical miles northwest off Tanjung Piai - a cape in Johor which is the southernmost point of Peninsular Malaysia.

According to MMEA enforcement chief First Admiral Zulkifili Abu Bakar, agency speedboats were sent to the location of the two ships where they discovered approximately 80,000 litres of fuel oil were being transferred from Singapore-registered vessel MT Sentek 20 to Farmosaproduct Alphine, registered in Monrovia, Liberia.

The agency chief said that both ships failed to produce permits for the transfer of oil. "The owners of the ships can be charged for failure to inform the marine department director on the oil transfer activities," said Abu Bakar, adding that they could be ordered to pay a fine of up to RM100,000 (US$33,000) or jailed for two years, or both.