9 missing navy men found
> Boat spotted by merchant ship 90 nautical miles off Kuantan waters, says RMN chief
PETALING JAYA: Nine Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) personnel missing since Saturday off Johor waters have been found safe.
Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin confirmed that their boat was spotted by a merchant ship 90 nautical miles off Kuantan waters.
“#SAR KD Perdana ships boat located by RMAF Beechcraft 90nm east off Kuantan following earlier sighting by a merchant ship. Thank you to all,” Ahmad Kamarulzaman said via his Twitter account yesterday evening.
When asked via Twitter on the condition of the personnel involved in the incident, he replied: “They look good from the air. Thank you all for assisting in the search and rescue mission.”
Earlier the navy said the boat, with an officer and eight personnel, was patrolling the waters together with fast attack craft KD Perdana off Tanjung Sedili when both vessels lost communications with each other.
The boat was chasing a Vietnamese fishing boat.
Search operations started at 9.19pm on the day the boat went missing and had been expanded with more vessels.
The search and rescue operation was launched involving navy assets with fishing and merchant vessels.
The operation involved assets and personnel from the RMN, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Sedili Fishermen Association.
The vessels included RMN’s KD Perdana, KD Perkasa, KD Pendekar, KD Handalan, KD Terengganu, KD Kelantan and two helicopters, a SuperLynx and a Fennec.