Malaysia Detains MSC Boxship for Illegally Anchoring Without Permission

Malaysia Maritime reports an enforcement action that saw an MSC containership detained and its captain and second engineer taken ashore for questioning after the vessel anchored reportedly without permission. The authorities reported that if convicted, they could impose a fine of up to approximately $23,000, two years in prison, or both penalties.

The incident began on the morning of May 16 when the Area Control Centre identified what the authorities were calling a “suspicious vessel.” They began monitoring the movement of the containership at approximately 0920 local time, and by around 1320, the vessel was noted to be stationary.

A maritime patrol boat was dispatched to investigate. It located the containership which had anchored about 22.5 nautical miles southwest of the town of Sekinchan, located north of Kuala Lumpur on the west coast of Malaysia in the Malacca Strait.

The Malaysian authorities published a photo of the vessel but obscured the name of the ship and did not release the details. It clearly shows MSC markings and corresponds with the MSC Olia (48,186 dwt), which is registered in Liberia. The vessel has a capacity of 3,760 TEU and, according to MSC’s online schedule, was coming from Jakarta, due in Singapore on May 17. The ship, built in 2007, has been owned by MSC since 2021, when it was acquired from Bernhard Schulte.

Malaysia Maritime reports that its team boarded the containership and inspected the crew’s paperwork. It said there were 23 crewmembers aboard from various countries, and they all had “complete identification documents.”

They, however, reported that the “captain of the ship had failed to submit any documents of anchoring permission.” The captain, a 44-year-old Russian national and the second engineer were taken to the headquarters of Selangor State Maritime for “further investigation.”

Malaysia and several neighboring countries are known for strict enforcement policies and have frequently detained vessels on similar charges. Security is a concern in the region, which is known as a hot spot for illegal ship-to-ship oil transfers involving Iranian shipments. The Malacca and Singapore Straits in 2025 have also seen a spike in robberies. In 2022, however, officials in Indonesia were compelled to deny allegations in the media that the navy had been soliciting payments from detained vessels. Reuters reported that the payments were being solicited from vessels stopped and charged will illegally anchoring.

No further details were released by Malaysia Maritime. The AIS signal for the vessel shows it is now docked in Port Klang.