Harassed by Fishermen at anchor in Malaysia
The SE Asia Guide
suggested an anchorage at Tg. Tohar (1° 51 N; 102° 45.5 E). I went there and
this is my story:
This is a slightly updated email I send Chris this morning and it gives details of the “happenings” of last night.
First I find that most of the anchorages along
the Malaysian west coast is exposed and there seems, so far to be no protected
bays. In addition, not only the huge amount of commercial shipping transiting
the Malacca Straits, but also the fishermen’s unpredicted
behaviours are of concern and stressful to see.
Last night was not good.
First fishermen came at 21:00 as I was just in bed. I noted them passing me and getting up in front of New Dawn, so I thought all was fine and went back to bed. Soon after there were a lot of screaming and they were close to me. They pretended that i had anchored over their nets. That I found was strange as there were no nets, nor any flags close by, when I anchored. However as it transpired, their net was “over and on top” of my chain, it was obvious that they had just laid the net over my anchor chain and tried to get money from me. Lots of arguing took place, before they finally went away. They did not speak English.
A few hours later I was awoken by yet more screaming and another set of fishermen started the same game, showing me that their net was “over” my chain and that I had damaged their net. Same arguments and shouting before they went away and I could cut away the net they had fixed on my chain.
At 03:30 again I was woken up to a lot of screaming and shouting, as a third set of fishingmen started a similar story. Eventually they found out that I was a real bast... and off they went screaming heaven down on me.
At 06:30 the same story with yet another set of fishermen. Took some time before they realized what a bast... I must be, before they went off shouting.
At 07:45 another set of them came, this time farther and son which both seemed more gentle that my previous visitors and the son spoke some English. They asked me to lift anchor – basta – and I asked why? I was told – again – that I was over their net. I said there were no net when I anchored and they were not the only ones that had made this claim during the last 10 hours. I explained – as I now knew the melody – that if their net was “below” my chain, they would be right, but if their net was “over” my chain, they would be wrong, as they would thus have put out the net in front of New Dawn during the night. The son understood the argument. So I started to lift the chain and soon we found their net was, indeed, “over” my chain. So I explained this to the son, but he still asked me to pay for a new net. I answered politely that there would be no funds coming his way and if I were to get his net into my propeller, he would be facing the Coast Guard and a big bill. I suggested they lifted their net or it would be damaged, which they refused. So they had in the end to cut their own net away, so we could get free and even their own propeller was tangled in their net by then, thus it backfired for them. The son spoke some English and after some explaining and arguing i think he understood that as his net was “over” my chain it was his fault. One thing was they they made some dents in New Dawn and later I found out why. They had managed to undo the knots of my new fishing gear and the MOB devise, but did not managed to steal them. I only noted this later on after I had left.
To me this seems that this is normal for them to cause these problems and try to extract money from sailors. Someone probably have paid them, but I did not.
I was happy to get away in the end. They should be ashamed.
First fishermen came at 21:00 as I was just in bed. I noted them passing me and getting up in front of New Dawn, so I thought all was fine and went back to bed. Soon after there were a lot of screaming and they were close to me. They pretended that i had anchored over their nets. That I found was strange as there were no nets, nor any flags close by, when I anchored. However as it transpired, their net was “over and on top” of my chain, it was obvious that they had just laid the net over my anchor chain and tried to get money from me. Lots of arguing took place, before they finally went away. They did not speak English.
A few hours later I was awoken by yet more screaming and another set of fishermen started the same game, showing me that their net was “over” my chain and that I had damaged their net. Same arguments and shouting before they went away and I could cut away the net they had fixed on my chain.
At 03:30 again I was woken up to a lot of screaming and shouting, as a third set of fishingmen started a similar story. Eventually they found out that I was a real bast... and off they went screaming heaven down on me.
At 06:30 the same story with yet another set of fishermen. Took some time before they realized what a bast... I must be, before they went off shouting.
At 07:45 another set of them came, this time farther and son which both seemed more gentle that my previous visitors and the son spoke some English. They asked me to lift anchor – basta – and I asked why? I was told – again – that I was over their net. I said there were no net when I anchored and they were not the only ones that had made this claim during the last 10 hours. I explained – as I now knew the melody – that if their net was “below” my chain, they would be right, but if their net was “over” my chain, they would be wrong, as they would thus have put out the net in front of New Dawn during the night. The son understood the argument. So I started to lift the chain and soon we found their net was, indeed, “over” my chain. So I explained this to the son, but he still asked me to pay for a new net. I answered politely that there would be no funds coming his way and if I were to get his net into my propeller, he would be facing the Coast Guard and a big bill. I suggested they lifted their net or it would be damaged, which they refused. So they had in the end to cut their own net away, so we could get free and even their own propeller was tangled in their net by then, thus it backfired for them. The son spoke some English and after some explaining and arguing i think he understood that as his net was “over” my chain it was his fault. One thing was they they made some dents in New Dawn and later I found out why. They had managed to undo the knots of my new fishing gear and the MOB devise, but did not managed to steal them. I only noted this later on after I had left.
To me this seems that this is normal for them to cause these problems and try to extract money from sailors. Someone probably have paid them, but I did not.
I was happy to get away in the end. They should be ashamed.
I never like when these boats comes too close. Why do they come so close and what do they want? Here are a few examples from yesterday.
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