Their spokesperson, Firdaus Yusza, asked why they, as the affected victims, were excluded from a Feb 24 meeting involving the ministry, the shipping company, insurance firms, legal representatives, and other stakeholders, as announced by minister Loke Siew Fook.
“Why is the ministry only negotiating with the shipping company and agents? Why aren’t we, the real victims, included?” he told FMT.
“Our agents have completely washed their hands of this,” he said, adding that the owners had received no updates on the matter.
The vessel caught fire about nine nautical miles off Tanjung Labuh, Batu Pahat, en route to Kota Kinabalu, forcing a return to Port Klang. Some of the vehicles were damaged.
The vehicle owners said they were told to pay the shipping company 60% of their cars’ value to get them back, irrespective of whether they were damaged by the fire.
One of them was told by a shipping agent that the cars were being held because of a general average (GA) clause, which states that if a fire or damage occurs at sea, the loss must be shared between the ship owners and the car owners.
The car owners said the shipping agents had not informed them of such a clause, and that this had left many of them uncertain about who should be held accountable.
On Feb 25, Loke said his ministry was negotiating a reduction in the sum payable by the vehicle owners.
The ship owners subsequently said they would organise a town hall meeting to assist affected vehicle owners in reclaiming their cars.
Firdaus, who recently moved to Tawau, reiterated that the situation had caused the vehicle owners much inconvenience as it was difficult to get around without their cars.
“We already paid for the service, but our vehicles were never delivered. Now we’re being asked to pay the GA fee. Where is the justice in this?” he said.
Another affected owner, Saiful Zailani, urged the government to resolve the issue quickly.
“We’ve been fighting this for four months now. I’ve had to travel back and forth from Kota Bharu to Kuala Lumpur just to handle this case.
“We need the government to step in and help us immediately,” he said.