MEDIA reports alleging Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) entering Malaysian waters and deliberately damaging fishing nets belonging to local fishermen are not true, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said today. 

In a statement, SPF said coast guard officers on patrol spotted a Malaysian fishing vessel in Singapore waters off Tuas on August 14 at 6.55am and told the fisherman on board to leave the area. 

“At the time, there were a few other fishing vessels in the vicinity but they were in Malaysian territorial waters.

“The coast guard officers engaged the fisherman on board the fishing vessel in Singapore territorial waters and advised him to leave. 

“After the engagement, a fishing net became entangled in the propeller of the coast guard boat as it was reversing in an attempt to avoid entering Malaysian waters. 

“The fishing net was subsequently damaged in the process of untangling it from the propeller,” the SPF said today. 

Earlier, it was reported that a Singapore coast guard boat had entered Malaysian waters and headed towards a fishing net laid by a Malaysian fishing vessel. 

SPF said the reports are untrue as the incident had taken place in Singapore waters.  

“The coast guard officers were enforcing Singapore’s law within Singapore waters,” it said. 

The incident prompted Kota Iskandar assemblyman Pandak Ahmad to say that he will table a motion in the next state assembly sitting to remap the Malaysia-Singapore borders in the Johor Straits.

SPF noted that the fisherman involved in the recent occurrence was also involved in a previous incident in October 2022, when he was advised to leave a live firing area within Singapore waters for his own safety.  

According to the SPF, the fisherman had then falsely claimed that he was in Malaysian waters when he was not. SPF had also released a similar clarification regarding that incident. – August 20, 2023.