Kota Kinabalu: The chance inspection of a Vietnamese trawler for fishing illegally in Malaysian waters on Thursday morning led to a shocking but welcome discovery – four people reported missing at sea for over 10 days were found alive and well. High stake negotiations between the authorities in Malaysia and Vietnam in the hours that followed ended with an agreement that Malaysia send its people to pick up the Malaysian and three foreigners – a Spanish couple and a Chinese national – from Vietnamese waters. The Malaysian navy's KD Baung and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's KM Bistari sent their vessels to fetch the four, who were reportedly on two Vietnamese trawlers and, weather permitting, are scheduled to arrive back here Saturday morning.
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The four are reported to have boarded KD Bistari escorted by KD Baung at about 6pm. It is still unclear as to how, when and where they were rescued by the trawlers after their boat was believed to have capsized while on their way back from Pulau Balambangan to Simpang Mengayau in Kudat on May 2. Malaysian Armella Alihassan, 23, a 45-year-old Hong Kong-based national Tommy Lam Wai Yin (born to Malaysian parents) who is the owner of a resort in Tanjung Simpang Mengayau called "Tommy's Place" and two 30-year-old Spaniards, David Hernandes Gasulla and his wife Martha Miguel, were reported missing by their friend, Helen Mackri. Their failure to return to their hotel in Simpang Mengayau at about 8pm last Monday after they left Kg Batu Sirih, Pulau Balambangan in a fibreglass boat at about 5.30pm the same day prompted a multi-agency search and rescue mission from the air and sea ever since.
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Hopes of finding them alive dimmed after fishermen operating off Kudat caught an engine and a capsized boat in their nets some 2.8 nautical miles north of Tanjung Simpang Mengayau in Kudat on May 8. At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, MMEA Sabah / Labuan Regional Director Maritime First Admiral Mohd Zubil Mat Som was relieved that they have been found alive although mystery surrounds the circumstances of their disappearance, eventual rescue by the fishing trawlers and, frustratingly, the lack of any communication that they had been found.
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"Maybe they clung on to something … or they held on to each other, I don't know," said Mohd Zubil, adding, "what's good to know is that they are alive and well." "We will get to know the whole story when they get back here." Mohd Zubil said the four were initially reported to be on two separate Vietnamese fishing boats some 40 nautical miles in waters of Amboyna Cay of the Vietnamese border or some 240 nautical miles from Kudat."Their location was identified after our team stopped a Vietnamese boat for inspection when it was found conducting trawling activities illegally in Malaysian waters some 150 nautical miles from Labuan at about 8.30am."During inspections, the Vietnamese skipper used their satellite phone to contact two other Vietnamese fishing boats which were then also conducting fishing activities in Malaysian waters," he said."The skipper was heard speaking in the Vietnamese language and uttered 'Malaysia, Malaysia'," he said. He said that was when the Malaysian team, through the Vietnamese fishing boat's satellite phone, got to speak to Armella who happened to be on one of the Vietnamese boats with Tommy. "She identified herself as Armella Alihassan and informed our team that she was on board the fishing boat with Tommy and that they have been lost at sea for ten days," he said. Mohd Zubil said due to bad communication at sea, it was only after an hour that they were able to obtain confirmation from Armella that Martha and David were on another Vietnamese fishing boat. He said that only after their team contacted the two Vietnamese fishing boats, were David and Martha allowed to use the satellite phone on the fishing boat."Perhaps the Vietnamese fishermen were not aware that we are searching for the four and it could also be that David and Martha were not aware that there was a satellite phone on the fishing boat," he said. It was learnt that all four had contacted their families via satellite phone on Thursday. KM Bistari and KD Baung were deployed to the area to bring the four back following negotiations by Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Putrajaya with the MRCC in Vietnam. "We also requested that Martha and David join Armella and Tommy on the same boat," he said. "We cannot immediately establish when and where the four embarked the Vietnamese fishing boats because our priority is to get the four back safely," he said. Mohd Zubil also thanked all the security enforcement agencies, including navy, marine police, fire and rescue department for assisting in the search and rescue operation which entered its 10th day on Thursday. Meanwhile, Armella's family member said they were informed of the Armella's location at about 10am.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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