Encroachments into oil platforms at alarming levels
Published on: Thursday, August 20, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Encroachment by fishing boats into the gazetted 500-metre safety radius within Petronas' offshore oil platforms in the country has reached alarming levels, especially in Sabah.Petronas Chairman for Sabah and Labuan, Mohamed Firouz Asnan, said more than 9,000 incidences of such encroachment were recorded since 2012 until now, mostly in the State.He said they are concerned over the rising number of such incidences in Sabah as it could expose the fishermen as well as the local communities to potential harm and could adversely affect Petronas' daily operations with potential loss of lives, disruption to operations and damage to assets.
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"It is a worrying situation particularly in Sabah where most incidences are committed by traditional fishermen who are using pump boats and seem oblivious to the danger."They encroach almost every day to fish under our platforms especially when the weather is good because the platforms are situated quite close to the shore which is about 30 kilometres and that makes it easier for them to encroach our platforms."This is because there is a school of fish under the platforms that are classified under grade A and quality ones within the 500-metre safety zone," he said. Firouz said this during a media briefing on a mega 'Sahabat Maritim' Programme, which is a safety outreach programme for coastal communities, particularly for fishermen in Sabah and Labuan, held at Menara Petronas, here, Wednesday.
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Also present was Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Regional Operation Director First Admiral (Maritime) Adam bin Aziz.The programme is a smart partnership between Petronas and MMEA to educate coastal and fishing communities on the dangers of vessel encroachment within the safety 500-metre radius surrounding the platforms.
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It will be held at Pulau Mantanani, Kota Belud from Friday until Saturday involving 200 coastal communities on the island and involve various other authorities such as Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM), Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC) and National Anti-Drug Agency (Nada), among others.Firouz said it is dangerous for any fisherman to encroach the safety radius of their offshore platforms to fish as there are piping, and other inflammable equipment that pose high safety risks.He said there had been even a few cases where the fishermen who used their boats to encroach the Petronas offshore oil platforms also committed sea robbery."These fishermen who encroach would go underneath the platforms and open a gate to steal our equipment that is small and light and this often happens at night time."Not only that, sea robbery also happens on our vessels bringing items and goods to the platforms," he said.Meanwhile, Adam said most fishermen who encroach the Petronas oil platforms are foreigners who have no valid identification documents and the Pala'u or sea gypsies.Furthermore, he said there are even foreigners who are not registered with any fishermen association willing to encroach the restricted area to catch the high quality fish within the safety zone and sell them to fishermen from here and Vietnam. He said they would use pump boats that are easy to manoeuvre even during bad weather and rough seas.Adam said they also saw fishermen with pump boats seeking refuge under the platforms during bad weather and heavy rain."We even have spotted them cooking underneath the platforms and arrested them for encroachment. They seem very skilful in handling the pump boats that are ill-equipped and have no safety features."In fact, by January next year, the government will ban the use of pump boats as these are not safe and have no licence as they can only move forward," he said.He said it is imperative for the 'Sahabat Maritime' Programme to be carried out as the fishermen be they locals or foreigners and coastal communities need to be informed and educated on the serious danger of encroaching the oil platforms.Therefore, Firouz said Petronas and MMEA will focus on carrying out the outreach programme in Sabah due to high incidences of encroachment and other safety threats at the oil platforms for this year.In June, he said they implemented the programme with the communities in Kg. Mundas, Lahad Datu and will do another in Kg Bebulu in Labuan this October.To a question, Firouz said Pulau Mantanani was chosen to be the venue for the programme as there are a number of Petronas offshore oil platforms in the area."Petronas is committed to the highest safety and health standards and we are duty-bound to ensure the safety of our staff, contractors and surrounding communities."Sahabat Maritime is a community programme and a way for Petronas and MMEA to reach out to the fishing communities while at the same time, raising awareness about safety at sea," he said.Another safety threat, Firouz said, is the fish bombing activities near the oil platforms carried out by fishermen which is also among their main concerns as such illegal activity pose huge safety risks.He said they have even found an unexploded fish bomb within the safety zone which MMEA took action on together with the Malaysian Navy.On how serious fish bombing activities are, Adam said the number of cases have dropped tremendously, by more than 50 per cent, due to regular patrolling, strict enforcement and public cooperation in channelling tips on suspicious activities to the agency."When we have more vessels to do the patrolling, we will place them in oil platforms that are often hot spots for those fishermen who often encroach the safety zones."The best prevention measure is to educate the fishing community and reach out to them so that they can be registered with the fishermen's associations.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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