Cops probe trespass after vehicles ‘stolen’ from storage facility

 

The cars, some visibly damaged, stranded at Port Klang after a fire on board the MV Malaysia Star on Dec 2 delayed their release.

PETALING JAYA: 

Police are investigating the removal of 28 cars from a storage facility in Klang for trespassing, after a shipping firm alleged that the vehicles were stolen.

Klang Selatan police chief Cha Hoong Fong said a 44-year-old director of the shipping company had lodged a report yesterday evening about the incident.

He said the complainant, a foreigner, claimed that a group of men had entered a parking lot at Kota Bayu Emas in Pendamar, Klang, to remove the cars, which were pending a court ruling regarding insurance claims.

Cha said 1,517 vehicles were being transported from Port Klang to Kota Kinabalu on Dec 2 when the ship caught fire. Rescuers managed to put out the fire and retrieve a large number of the cargo, which were then kept at the parking lot.

Further investigation found that some of the vehicles being shipped did not have a shipping licence.

“The shipping firm then required all car owners to pay an amount of money to cover the service costs of the sea rescuers before the vehicles could be returned to the owners.

“Dissatisfied, the owners sought the help of an NGO, Semboyan Malaysia, to get their cars back. However, after a series of negotiations, the shipping firm did not agree to hand the cars back to the owners until they obtained the court’s decision on the insurance claims.

“After that, at about noon on March 13, a group of men entered the parking lot to take the vehicles without the shipping firm’s permission,” he said in a statement.

Cha said the case is being investigated under Section 448 of the Penal Code for trespassing, and that several people will be summoned to give their statements.

The group that had taken the vehicles had posted a live stream on TikTok when they were inside the parking lot, though they did not capture the actual purported break-in.

The owners of MV Malaysia Star, the cargo ship which caught fire, had contended that the group had committed a criminal act and must return the cars.

The vessel caught fire about nine nautical miles off Tanjung Labuh, Batu Pahat, on Dec 2 while en route to Kota Kinabalu, forcing it to return to Port Klang. Some vehicles were damaged in the incident.

FMT previously reported that the owners had been told they would have to pay 60% of their cars’ value to the shipping company to retrieve them, regardless of whether their cars were damaged in the fire or not.

One owner said a shipping agent cited a maritime law clause stating that if a fire or damage occurs at sea, the loss must be shared by the shipowners and the vehicle owners.

However, many claimed that they were not informed about this clause beforehand, leaving them confused about who should bear the cost. - FMT