Tourists among 22 spared watery death
Published on: Saturday, June 25, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Twenty-two people, including 12 China tourists, who were stranded at sea for 16 hours, were rescued after their boat started to leak as they were returning to Kuala Abai from Pulau Mantanani, off Kota Belud, Friday. It is understood that they managed to hang on to life – thanks to their lifejackets – for several hours after their catamaran capsized.They were rescued after police Cessna aircraft spotted them floating some eight nautical miles in Tanjung Dudar waters, prompting a marine police boat to rush to the site.
ADVERTISEMENT
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sabah/ Labuan Regional Director First Admiral Mohd Zubil Mat Som identified them as four tourist guides, 12 China tourists, four crew and two villagers. The locals, aged between 12 and 66, comprised nine men and a woman, while the tourists comprised five men and seven women who arrived at the jetty in Rampayan Laut at about 9.05am, Friday.Zubil said none of them suffered any injury except for exhaustion and have since been sent to the Kota Belud Hospital leading the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation to come to an end at about 10am.It was learnt that the 22 people were headed back to Kuala Abai from Mantanani on Thursday when water started to leak into the 39-feet long catamaran.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) received a call from the MERS 999 at about 4.10pm on Thursday, alerting us about 22 passengers stranded at sea after their boat started leaking," Mohd Zubil told a media conference. "A SAR operation was activated at about 7.15pm," he said, adding that the distance from Mantanani to Kuala Abai is about 20 nautical miles.
ADVERTISEMENT
The SAR covered 350 nautical miles and involved the MMEA's KM Memmon, KM Berani, Kilat 39, Penyelamat 10 and Dauphin aircraft, assisted by the navy's KD Ganas, police air unit's Cessna aircraft , marine police and the air force's Charlie 130. Mohd Zubil said there was no communication with the missing boat from 4pm that day, but at about 9.50pm they received a call from the Mantanani Resort who alerted them of the skipper on the missing boat's contact number. "The skipper from the missing boat contacted the resort, who in turn alerted us and we managed to contact those on the missing boat to obtain their location. "They told us that they set sail from Mantanani and were supposed to arrive in Kuala Abai, but ended up near the Rampayan waters shoal about 18 nautical miles from Kuala Abai."Our boats Kilat 39 and Penyelamat 10 located some 29 nautical miles from their location rushed to the site but found no trace of them. "By then those on the stranded boat told us that water was seeping fast and that they had also called for assistance from other boat operators who were not able to come due to the choppy waves," he said. He said the waves were reported to be between 2.5 to 3.5 metres high, with wind conditions between 40 to 50km per hour at that time. "Our boats were already four nautical miles away from the location when those on the stranded boat reported that their boat has capsized and that they were clinging to the side of the boat."Our boats arrived at the site before 11pm and were told by those on the capsized boat that they were somewhere between Mantanani and the shoals of Rampayan as they could see the shoals, but still our boats could not find them. "Then we told them that we will shoot flare into the air, and they said they saw the first and second flare which is about one mile from them," he said, adding that they lost communication with those on the capsized boat at about 11pm. He said Penyelamat 10 found the capsized boat about three nautical miles north of Rampayan at about 6am on Friday, however nobody was in sight. "At about 8.10am, the police Cessna aircraft reported seeing the victims floating together in the Tanjung Dudar waters and by 8.30am, all of them have been rescued by a marine police boat," he said. "The successful SAR is made possible thanks efforts and assistance from the navy, police, military air force as well as resort operators," he added. He said investigations are being done on how the incident could have happened. "We need to review certain matters regarding safety requirements as well as the rules and regulations," he said. He said he will have a dialogue with resort and boat operators together with other agencies for feedback. Also present were Region Two Navy Commander Rear Admiral Datuk Khairul Anuar Yahya and Kota Kinabalu Maritime Enforcement Chief First Admiral Adam Aziz. On May 13, four people, three of them foreign tourists, were also rescued after surviving a ten-day ordeal at sea. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
