Divers from China to help
Team to be flown in to search for 14 crewmen in capsized vessel
MUAR: A team of divers from China is joining in rescue efforts to find 14 crewmen believed to be trapped in a capsized sand-dredging vessel near here.
“The divers are from the SOS Maritime Centre in Guangdong,” said Liu Dongguan, counsellor at the Embassy of China in Kuala Lumpur.
Liu said the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian, was deeply concerned over the incident and grateful for the help rendered by the Malaysian Government.
She said the embassy had full confidence in Malaysia’s rescue operation.
“The embassy will follow up on this case until the end. We will try to help the victims and their families,” she said at a press conference here yesterday.
The Chinese vessel JBB Rong Chang 8 capsized 12 nautical miles west of Tanjung Tohor near here. One crewman died while three others were rescued. The boat had 18 crew members, one a Malaysian and the rest, foreigners.
“Divers have been deployed to look for the crew,” said Southern Region Maritime director First Admiral Datuk Abu Bakar Idris.
The ill-fated vessel’s owners also deployed several divers of their own.
Ships from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and marine police are involved in the rescue operation.
Two vessels were at the location yesterday, ready to tow the capsized vessel closer to shore to facilitate the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Capt Tay Yeap Liong of the RMN Lumut naval base said they had mobilised eight divers and that they would take turns to enter the vessel.
He said the challenge would be to open the vessel door due to water pressure.