LANGKAWI, June 1 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) of Kedah and Perlis and the Langkawi Marine Department during an operation discovered that passenger ferries in the area have never conducted fire-fighting exercises.

MMEA Kedah/Perlis director First Admiral (Maritime) Rozali Mohd Said, said the non-compliance on safety was only discovered during a surprise inspection of four ferries carrying 400 passengers here on Thursday.

He said the operation was carried out to ensure they complied with safety procedures and maritime law, following several complaints and events such as the stranded ferry in Kuala Perlis and the fire on a Langkawi ferry, and other offences.

"The Inspections were carried out on ferries operating along the Langkawi-Kuala Kedah and Langkawi-Kuala Perlis route.

"In addition to not having fire-fighting exercises, there were also other security aspects that the operators had not complied with such as a faulty public announcement system which meant announcements could not be made, and the children’s safety jackets that were placed in a location that was hard to access,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

Rozali said that during the operation, both departments also provided security briefings at sea as well as demonstrations of how to properly use the safety jacket. — Bernama