SEBUYAU: A search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate a member of the boat crew, who was reported to have fallen into the waters of Pulau Burong on Monday (Apr 18), entered its second day yesterday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak director First Admiral (Maritime) Zin Azman Md Yunus in a statement, said the missing crew had been identified as Francis Awi, 39, who was last seen wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt and grey pants.
“The agency’s operations centre received an emergency call at 12pm on Monday stating that a crew of a fishing boat was suspected to have fallen into the sea at Pulau Burong waters around 6.30am, about 10 nautical miles off Sebuyau.
“Following the report, the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC) Kuching activated a search operation and set up a SAR forward base at Sebuyau public jetty.
“The agency’s Kilat 22 boat was mobilised to the scene to commence the search,” he said.
Zin added that other rescue agencies as well as a fishermen’s association nearby were also informed of the incident.
As at press time, the search for Francis is still ongoing.
In another incident on the same day (Monday), the MRSC Kuching had received an emergency call at 12.50pm stating that a fishing boat with four persons on board had capsized in Tanjung Po waters.
According to the complainant, all of the crew members were wearing safety jackets. However, the search operation for the four was called off as they had been rescued by local fishermen and all were taken to Kampung Geobilt in Kuching.
Zin urged the maritime community to ensure that their boats are in good condition and they should cancel any intention to go to sea in case of bad weather. If the situation is urgent, they should always prioritise safety by wearing a safety jacket respectively and bring along a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) device to facilitate the rescue team directly to emergency location.
Should there be any emergencies at sea, they can be directly channelled to the MMEA Sarawak Operations Centre at 082-432544 / 432016 or MERS 999.
