KUCHING – Around 10 anglers are feared to have drowned after their boat sank around two nautical miles from Pulau Satang earlier this afternoon.
National news agency Bernama reported that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has been on a search-and-rescue mission (SAR) since noon today after receiving a 999 call from an individual.
“Rescue Boat 8, which is operating around Santubong waters, has been mobilised to the location and a search-and-rescue forward operating base has been established at the Telaga Air Jetty.
“The sea and weather at the location today is quite choppy with wind speeds of 20 to 30km/hour and waves as high as 1.5 to two metres tall.
“The rescue mission has been extended from two nautical miles to 20 nautical miles from Pulau Satang,” MMEA Sarawak First Admiral (Laksamana Pertama) Zin Azman Md Yunus reportedly said in a statement today.
However, the rescue mission halted for the night at 6.30pm after no new clues or signs were found. It will begin again at 7am tomorrow.
Zin Azman also advised the maritime community to cancel their plans to sea if the weather does not permit it.
“If you are desperate to go to sea, please prioritise your safety and always wear life jackets seeing that the weather at sea currently is not good, especially with the monsoon season expected to start from October 2021 to March 2022,” he said. – The Vibes, October 2, 2021
