THE MALAYSIAN Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has rescued three foreign sailors in the South China Sea off Bintulu district in northern Sarawak after their yacht suffered a leak at a location about two hours away from the nearest coast.
Two of the men are China nationals and one is from the island of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean.
They were found in critical condition as seawater had already entered their vessel.
They were rescued and safely taken to shore at about 2pm yesterday.
MMEA’s Bintulu division chief, Captain Mohd Iszuadi Muhammad Hassan, said the sailors were travelling in the vessel past Sarawak waters from Bintulu en route to the Philippines at about 4am yesterday.
"At around 4.23am, we received an emergency alert from a man, Wang Zhen Zhen, the captain of yacht called The Suntess, that the yacht was suffering from a leak and was in danger of sinking.
"We immediately deployed a rescue unit from Bintulu to the site to help those on board.
"Our rescue vessel arrived at the location at 6.25am and found the captain and two other men on board the yacht that had a leak with seawater already seeping in,” Iszuadi said in a statement.
The MMEA personnel then proceeded to conduct temporary repairs on board to plug the leak.
"The yacht and those on board were towed ashore to the Jepak jetty at about 2pm," he said.
The jetty is located across from Bintulu town near the river mouth of Sg Kemena.
Mohd Iszuadi called on sea sailors and those going offshore to be very cautious.
The windy conditions and waves can be risky due to the current weather situation, he said. – The Vibes, February 11, 2024
