Its minister, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, said reports that the ship carrying the toxic waste had arrived in Port Klang last week were not true.
“We got a tip-off from the Hong Kong authorities and I immediately informed the maritime police and other agencies to stop the ship from leaving Hong Kong. The ship did not reach our waters,” he said after officiating the 11th Asia-Pacific Mineral Resource Exhibition and Conference in PWTC here today.
It was reported by an online portal that the ship was stopped from unloading its goods at Port Klang.
Wan Junaidi said the ship was carrying 150 containers of toxic waste, believed to be arsenic and cadmium.
“The vessel containing the toxic waste started its journey in Romania heading to Shanghai. When they reached Shanghai port, they had trouble unloading the containers. The authorities then asked the ship to leave the port.
“The cargo ship then headed towards Macau and tried to unload the containers there, but was again denied permission.
“The ship then headed towards the port in Hong Kong,” he said.
Wan Junaidi said it was in Hong Kong that the vessel decided to split its cargo into several smaller shipments.
“Hong Kong, being liberal when it comes to business, decided to allow the ship into their port.
“The Hong Kong authorities then came aboard and conducted a check on the containers and after investigations they discovered the hazardous materials and did not allow the vessel to unload the containers.
“It was then that the vessel decided to go to Malaysia by splitting up its cargo into seven containers,” he said.
Wan Junaidi said subsequently the Hong Kong environmental authorities alerted Malaysian authorities and the vessel was denied entry.
“We told the Hong Kong environmental authorities that we will not allow the ship to enter our waters and the vessel should not be allowed to leave Hong Kong port,” he said.