IPOH, Jan 6— The K3M application which stands for “Awareness, Safety and Maritime community” in Malay saved a local fisherman boat from being detained by the Indonesian Maritime Enforcement Agency (IMEA) today.
K3M is a new mobile application which launched last year in a bid to increase safety at sea for the community by shortening response time from the authorities.
In the incident which happened at around 11.30am today, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) received a report through the Fleet Operations Centre via the K3M application, informing that a local fisherman boat from Hutan Melintang had been pursued by an IMEA vessel.
RMN Western Fleet Headquarters Operation Staff Assistant Chief Captain Azman Rabani said that the incident took place at about 29 nautical miles south of Teluk Intan, three nautical miles in Malaysian waters.
“The minute we got the information, we dispatched our vessel KD Jerai to the location in order to provide necessary assistance. Our ship manages to reach the spot within 10 minutes.
“IMEA vessel have already towed the boat and heading to the Indonesian waters, however, the RMN and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency personnel who rushed to the spot managed to negotiate with the IMEA personnel,” he said.
Azman said IMEA personnel agreed to release the boat after the negotiation and advised the fishing boat’s captain to not fish in the areas near the Indonesian border.
He said the fisherman boat which was registered under number PKFB 718 was detained by the IMEA vessel for document checking.
Azman added that the fishermen association is grateful for the K3M Application for helping the maritime community, especially the local fishermen, to report any emergency to the authorities.
