When M.V. Bunga Tanjung crew were intercepted by Portuguese Navy in 1976

In 1976, Captain Rasol Puteh was a Fourth Officer on board M.V. Bunga Tanjung when the crew became embroiled in political manoeuvring between Malaysia and Portugal.

Twentytwo13 shares excerpts from Stories of the Seas, a collection of true accounts written by former officers and engineers of MISC (formerly the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation). This week, Captain Rasol Puteh recounts how the crew of M.V. Bunga Tanjung were intercepted by the Portuguese Navy and forced to return to port off the Portuguese coast in December 1976.

I was on watch duty on the bridge as Fourth Officer while we were steaming along the Portuguese coast when I heard a frantic voice over the radio.

It was the Portuguese Navy ordering Bunga Tanjung to stop her engines immediately.

I saw a naval vessel closing in on our starboard side. I immediately called Capt Arie Van Dongen to the bridge and reported what was happening.

Shortly afterwards, the Radio Room informed us that our sister vessel, Bunga Kesumba, had also been ordered to stop by another Portuguese naval vessel.

The British master of Bunga Kesumba complied immediately and stopped her engines. After being detained for a day, Bunga Kesumba was released and continued her voyage to her next port in Europe.

Our captain, however, was reluctant to comply and continued speaking with the Portuguese naval officers over the VHF radio. At the same time, he instructed me to maintain our course while ordering the Engine Room to stand by.

We had no idea why we had been ordered to stop, and our captain told the Portuguese naval commander that their demand amounted to an act of piracy on the high seas.

Realising that we were about to leave Portuguese waters, the naval commander issued a final warning. He threatened to fire across our bow if we failed to stop.

Concerned for the safety of the crew and the ship, the captain ordered the Engine Room to stop the engines immediately.

He remained in constant communication with our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur while awaiting further instructions after they contacted the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We drifted while the Portuguese naval vessel steamed slowly a short distance from us. On the eighth day, the master was finally given the green light to comply with the Portuguese authorities’ instructions and proceed to the port of Porto.

It took us about an hour to reach the harbour entrance, where a Portuguese pilot boarded the vessel. Little did we know what awaited us.

I noticed a large crowd of protesters gathered nearby, many carrying placards and banners. Reporters and photographers were also waiting.

Several Portuguese officials came aboard to meet Capt Van Dongen and informed him that we had been arrested on suspicion of arms smuggling.

A Malaysian diplomat travelled from Paris to meet us.

The following morning, I was tasked with escorting the Portuguese officials around the ship as they searched every cabin and storeroom for smuggled weapons. It was clearly a futile exercise.

After about an hour, the search was over, and we waited for their decision. No explanation was ever given for our arrest, and we were eventually granted permission to leave the port.

We resumed our voyage to Liverpool, arriving the day before Christmas.

The ordeal in Portugal turned out to be nothing more than political manoeuvring between Malaysia and Portugal.

Malaysia had been one of the first countries to recognise East Timor (then known as Timor Timur) as part of Indonesia.

Portugal, the former colonial power, detained the two Malaysian vessels in an attempt to pressure Malaysia into withdrawing its recognition.

This was revealed to us by the Malaysian diplomat before he returned to Paris.

This is an excerpt from Stories of the Seas, a collection of short stories by former MISC (formerly the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation) officers and engineers. It can be bought here⁠.