Bintulu MMEA director Mohd Khairol Anuar Saad the three barges were anchored and docked with each other at approximately one nautical mile from Bintulu Port, at around 6.30pm.

He said a preliminary inspection found that the three barges were taking shelter from bad weather.

“However, further inspection found that the three barges did not have Domestic Shipping Licence documents.

“The empty barges had 31 crew members – four Indonesians and 27 Chinese nationals – aged between 20 and 53,” he said in a statement.

Mohd Khairol said the crew members were not detained as they had complete identification documents and valid working permits from the Malaysian Immigration Department.