KUALA TERENGGANU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) hopes to receive at least one offshore patrol vessel (OPV) this year to beef up patrols in the country’s waters. MMEA deputy director-general (logistics) Rear Admiral (M) Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said currently his agency has 70 vessels and 190 boats nationwide, but most of them were obsolete and not functioning well. Also present was Terengganu MMEA director Maritime Captain Muhammad Suffi Mohd Ramli. Meanwhile, he said throughout the 16 years of its establishment, the MMEA had handled 2,500 cases involving various incidents. "Of the total, 805 cases involved vessel and boat incidents; human beings (944 cases), asset assistance (525 cases); medical advisory services (19 cases) as well as providing support assistance and logistics services to other agencies (207 cases),” he said.
