Two fishermen in drifting boat found safe
LABUAN: The two fishermen whose boat reportedly went adrift for about 36 hours at sea were found safe in the waters off Brunei on Saturday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Labuan Zone director Che Adnan Md Isa said the fishermen’s fishing boat had reportedly suffered engine problem in the waters off Pulau Kuraman near here and had drifted into the waters of the neighboring country.
According to him, Albert Jukaring, 35, and Ahmad Shah Jiris, 32, were rescued by fishermen from Brunei.
“The fishermen (from Brunei) towed the boat into Labuan waters before handing them over to Malaysian fishermen there. The boat was then towed and handed over to the MMEA Labuan base, which in turn handed over the case to the Labuan police headquarters for further investigation,” said Che Adnan in a statement here on Sunday.
He said preliminary investigation revealed that one of the fishermen did not have any identification documents.
“As MMEA is concerned with security issues in the sea involving small boats and fishing boats, we look forward to cooperation from the public to make proper preparations before going out to sea in view of uncertain weather conditions.
The maritime community is also advised to refer and obtain information on current weather conditions before going out to sea,” Che Adnan added.