MMEA said the two British men, aged 48 and 67, were detained on their yacht, which had the UK flag hoisted, at about 6.45pm yesterday on suspicion of illegally anchoring in Penang waters.

“The yacht was suspected to have anchored in Malaysian waters without the marine department director-general’s permission, which is an offence under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1952,” said Penang maritime department chief Suffi Ramli.

Separately, MMEA detained three Thais, aged 41 to 58, on board a fishing vessel on Jan 4.

Suffi said checks found that they had breached the vessel’s Class C licence conditions by fishing within 15 nautical miles off Penang’s coast.

One of the crew members also allegedly failed to furnish identification documents.

Both vessels and their crew were detained and handed over to Penang maritime investigators for further action.