MINDEF to probe claim on presence of CCG ship at Beting Patinggi Ali

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Defence will investigate claims about the presence of a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship in the South China Sea, particularly in the area around Beting Patinggi Ali, Sarawak.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said this was to ensure if the foreign ship was anchored there or just passing through.

“Patrols are conducted by the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. The waters of the Strait of Melaka and the South China Sea are free-flow waters. It is a threat to our sovereignty if the ship anchors there.”

“If it was passing through, we cannot do anything, that is the international law of the sea,“ he told reporters after opening the Gombak UMNO delegates meeting here today.

He said this when asked to comment on a report by a portal which claimed that fishermen in Miri were intimidated by the presence of the CCG ship and it hampered them from going to the sea.

Before this, the government insisted that Beting Patinggi Ali belonged to Malaysia and had never recognised any claim from any party since it is within Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE).

Beting Patinggi Ali is 84 nautical miles (155 km) from the coast of Miri (specifically in Tanjung Baram), Sarawak.