Shipowners File Police Report After Vehicles Stolen From Storage Facility

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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: The owners of a cargo ship which caught fire while transporting vehicles last December have filed a police report after a group of individuals allegedly broke into a storage facility and stole an unspecified number of cars.
MV Malaysia Star’s legal representative, Jeremy Joseph, said the owners were informed of the incident by the facility’s operator at noon today.
They later received a link to a TikTok live stream, broadcast by the group themselves from inside the facility.
The live stream, however, did not capture the actual break-in or theft.
“They committed a criminal act, and they must return the cars,” Joseph told FMT.
According to him, 34 vehicles were being housed in a storage facility at Port Klang under a lien following the cargo ship fire.
He said the ship’s owners will pursue all legal avenues, both civil and criminal, to regain possession of the cars.
“Before it reaches that stage, we urge anyone who has driven off with a vehicle from the storage facility to return it immediately,” he said.
“We look forward to the public’s cooperation and a speedy resolution to this matter.”
The vessel caught fire on Dec 2, about nine nautical miles off Tanjung Labuh, Batu Pahat, 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.
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.
Joseph previously explained that shipowners are legally required to collect “general average security” to compensate for damaged vehicles and “salvage security” for the costs incurred in saving the vessel.
FMT has reached out to Klang police and transport minister Loke Siew Fook for comment. - FMT

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