Harassed by Fishermen at anchor in Malaysia

The SE Asia Guide suggested an anchorage at Tg. Tohar (1° 51 N; 102° 45.5 E). I went there and this is my story:

Published 8 years ago, updated 5 years ago

Not A Nice Night – Tuesday 22 March 2016

First, I find that most of the anchorages along the Malaysian west coast are exposed and there seems, so far, to be no protected bays. In addition, not only the huge amount of commercial shipping transiting the Malacca Straits but also the fishermen’s unpredicted behaviours are of concern and stressful to see.

Last night was not good.

First fishermen came at 21:00 as I was just going to bed. I noted them passing in front of me, so I thought all was fine and went to bed. Soon after there was a lot of screaming and they were close to me. They pretended that I had anchored over their nets. I found that strange as there were no nets, nor any flags close by when I anchored. However, as it transpired, their net was “over and on top” of my chain, it was obvious that they had just laid the net over my anchor chain and tried to get money from me. Lots of arguing took place, before they finally went away. They did not speak English.

A few hours later I was awoken by yet more screaming and another set of fishermen started the same game, showing me that their net was “over” my chain and that I had damaged their net. Same arguments and shouting before they went away and I could cut away the net they had fixed on my chain.

At 03:30, again, I was woken up to a lot of screaming and shouting, as the third set of fishermen started a similar story. Eventually, they left – screaming heaven down on me.

At 06:30 the same story with yet another set of fishermen.

At 07:45 another set of fishermen came, this time a father and son, who both seemed more gentle than my previous visitors and the son spoke some English. They asked me to lift my anchor – and I asked why? I was told – again – that I was over their net. I said there were no nets when I anchored and they were not the only ones that had made this claim during the last 10 hours. I explained – as I now knew the melody – that if their net was “below” my chain, they would be right, but if their net was “over” my chain, they would be wrong, as they would thus have put out the net in front of my boat during the night.

The son understood the argument. So I started to lift the chain and soon we found their net was, indeed, “over” my chain. So I explained this to the son, but he still asked me to pay for a new net. I answered politely that there would be no funds coming his way and if I were to get his net into my propeller, he would be facing the Coast Guard and a big bill. I suggested they lifted their net or it would be damaged, which they refused. So they had, in the end, to cut their own net away, so we could get free, and even their own propeller was tangled in their net by then, thus it backfired for them. The son spoke some English and after some explaining and arguing, I think he understood that as his net was “over” my chain it was his fault. One thing was they made some dents in my boat and later I found out why. They had managed to undo the knots of my new fishing gear and the MOB device but did not manage to steal them. I only noted this later on, after I had left.

To me, it seems that it is normal for fishermen to cause these problems and try to extract money from sailors. Some probably may have paid them, but I did not.

I was happy to get away in the end. They should be ashamed.

Paul Donn, S/Y N.D.

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  1. March 4, 2019 at 2:39 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    For our friends on the west coast of Malaysia, we stopped for the night at Pulau Bidan, 14 miles north of Penang. In the morning we woke up to a fisherman anchored across our anchor and with a fish line draped along our hull with a float about to tangle in our rudder or prop. Of course, this is the often used ploy to say we caused the anchoring problem and now we owe the fisherman money. In no uncertain terms, I told him to move, which he did and then we were able to leave.

    The strange thing is, an hour later when we were about 7 miles on our way to Langkawi, he showed up alongside us well out to sea. He motored along, motioning with his arms like we needed to give him something. I won’t bore you with the whole story but after 45 minutes, I tired of him and his unsafe manoeuvers across our bow and off our stern so I fired a flare into the sky. That pretty much solved the problem for a while…..but he came close again. When I started taking pictures with my telephoto lens, that seemed to have the best effect and he disappeared for good heading back to Biden. He burned up a lot of gasoline for nothing.

    To see pictures, please go to http://www.whereisbrickhouse.com for the Fisherman Punk posting on 12 April 17. The Red Bull insignia on the side of his boat is distinctive.

    After arriving in Langkawi, we made a report to the Marine Police. They were very interested in the situation and it seems they are not fully aware that this sort of thing is commonplace against peaceful cruisers.

    More cruisers need to take pictures and make a report. The big learning point from this experience is to take pictures early on and from all angles. I should have taken a picture of the bow of the fishing boat where the registration numbers are for Malaysian boats. Without such definite evidence, the police can do little.

    We have one cruising friend here in the marina at Langkawi who has dealt 3 times with this sort of thing. He has never paid anything but they keep trying.

    I should add, when taking pictures of harassing fishermen, be sure to set the ISO on your camera up to 1600 when using the P setting so the shutter speed will be high, making for a clear image. Be sure to get a picture of the bow of the boat even if there are no numbers in that location. Boats legally come to these waters from Thailand and have no numbers on the bow.

    Here is some contact info for the Penang area:
    Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
    Maritime District 1
    Commander: Vincent Rajamony – [email protected]
    General contact: [email protected]

  2. March 4, 2019 at 2:34 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    Hi Jennifer,

    Very good idea to collect info re incidents along the coast.
    I think it would be wise to move away from the area once being harassed as we see they come back to try their luck. The question is also are they Malaysian or Indonesian.

    The Authorities are certainly helpful if they receive detailed information from Sailors. Perhaps taking pictures for the Coastguard (hidden camera!!).
    MV Lindavia

  3. March 4, 2019 at 2:33 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    We had a similar incident with a different outcome while anchored near the Jetty between Penang and Jerejak Island. We were below at about 2100 when we saw a light at our stern. It was fishermen attempting to clear a net that had drifted down on us in the strong current. They apologized in perfect English, saying it was their fault and had not seen us (even though we had multiple anchor lights showing). The net was draped over our anchor chain and around the hull and keel.

    We tried to help them but they finally cut away the portion around the chain and departed. We were left with a large piece of net stuck on the chain. It freed itself overnight from the chain in the changing current but still was wrapped around our prop. I was able to dive the next day and free it. We tried to find the owner, but could not. They did not demand anything, and we were sorry that they had to cut the net away. In the month anchored there, this was the only time we had a net problem.

  4. March 4, 2019 at 2:31 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    Hi Paul – Very distressing to hear of this incident. I am Jennifer aboard MV TigerLily in Straits Quay Marina in Penang. Together with the LBM Shipyard here I am following up with the authorities on a similar incident that occurred off Pulau Rimau at the southern end of Pulau Pinang.

    My email is [email protected] or mobile 0128404341. I would like to talk to you further and also encourage other mariners to get in touch with me regarding other similar incidents or concerns. We need to gather all possible evidence and present a compelling case to the Malaysian authorities for action.

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