11 crew rescued after vessel took in water
SANDAKAN: Eleven crew members of MV Lady Joanna II, which sank in the waters off Kinabatangan yesterday morning after springing a leak, were rescued by MMEA personnel.
The Philippines flagged vessel, laden with 16,000 sacks of rice and 1,000 sacks of sugar, had sailed off from Sandakan at around 6 am bound for Jolo in the Philippines, when it sprung a leak and encountered adverse weather conditions and rough seas.
In dire straits, the vessel sent out a distress signal seeking emergency assistance which was received by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) at 7.20 am and subsequently conveyed to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sandakan Maritime Region (DM17).
MMEA Sandakan immediately despatched their boat ‘Banggi 43’ to the last known position of the vessel but was not able to get close to the vessel because of turbulent sea conditions and strong winds.
The crew members of the vessel were subsequently instructed by the MMEA personnel to get on the safety rafts on their vessel and to throw the line from the safety boat to the MMEA boat so that they could be pulled in to safety.
All the 11 crew members from the vessel, aged between 20 to 61 years old, were subsequently rescued and taken to a nearby jetty to await the arrival of a bigger MMEA vessel, KM Tebrau, to take them to the MMEA jetty in Sandakan.
KM Tebrau commanding officer Lieutenant Maritime Commander Mahathir bin Ismail said all the crew members were transferred to KM Tebrau at 2.30 pm and there were no reported injuries.
“MV Lady Joanna II was left in a half sunken position in the waters off Kinabatangan and all its crew will be handed over to their vessel agent,” he said when met at a press conference yesterday.
He added that MMEA is always ready to provide emergency assistance to the local community should the need arise or if there is any incident occurring at sea by contacting its 24-hour operation room at 089-229504 or MERS 999.