Luxury Yacht Seized in Money Laundering Probe
Indonesian police on Thursday questioned the captain and crew of a luxury yacht in Bali at the request of U.S. authorities, probing alleged money laundering at a Malaysian state fund, they said. The yacht was impounded in Bali on Wednesday amid a multi-billion dollar corruption investigation launched by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and tied to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Police seized the yacht, Equanimity, after receiving a letter on Feb. 21 from the U.S.
Hijacked Tanker Located in Cambodian Waters
MT Orkim Harmony, the fuel-laden Malaysian tanker that ādisappearedā off the east coast of Johor last Thursday has been detected in Cambodian waters, according to Chief of Navy Admiral Abdul Aziz Jaafar says a report in Bernama. Abdul Jaafar said the tanker had been repainted and renamed. The tanker was being tailed from the air by aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), national news agency Bernama quoted Aziz as saying. The Malaysian-registered tanker was laden with 6,000 tonnes of RON95 petrol worth RM21 million when it went missing on June 12, while sailing from Malacca to Kuantan Port.
160,000 Malaysians Displaced by Floods
The number of people evacuated due to Malaysia's worst-ever floods jumped to more than 160,000 on Saturday, as Prime Minister Najib Razak reached the worst-hit state after cutting short a vacation in the U.S. Najib arrived in Kelantan, which has the biggest problems among eight affected states, following his return from Hawaii on Friday after public criticism he had been absent as flooding worsened. On Saturday, Najib announced an additional 500 million ringgit ($143.31 million) will be spent to aid victims after the flood subsides, following an initial government allocation of 50 million ringgit two days ago. The number of people evacuated topped 160,000 at 0700GMT Saturday, according to the New Straits Times newspaper, a sharp increase from 100,000 a day before.
China's Assertiveness Hardens Malaysian Stance in Sea Dispute
The submerged reef would be easy to miss, under turquoise seas about 80 km (50 miles) off Malaysia's Borneo island state of Sarawak. But two Chinese naval exercises in less than a year around the James Shoal have shocked Malaysia and led to a significant shift in its approach to China's claims to the disputed South China Sea, senior diplomats told Reuters. The reef lies outside Malaysia's territorial waters but inside its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The latest incident in January, in particular, prompted Malaysia to quietly step up cooperation with the Philippines and Vietnam, the two Southeast Asian nations most outspoken over China's moves in the region, in trying to tie Beijing to binding rules of conduct in the South China Sea, the diplomats said.
Two Oil Tankers Impounded
According to a Nov. 14 report from New Straits Times, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency southern region enforcement officers impounded two Singaporean-owned cargo tankers and detained 21 crew members for illegally transferring fuel between the vessels on Wednesday, Nov. 11. (Source: www.nst.com)
