JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) rescued five anglers who had drifted for six hours in Tanjung Piai waters, near Pontian yesterday after their boat suffered an engine failure.
Johor MMEA director Aminuddin Abdul Rashid said the five men, aged between 25 and 50 years old, and their boat were found by a MMEA patrol boat 2.6 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Piai waters at about 12.30pm.
“The five anglers went through anxious moments when they experienced engine failure.
“All of them, who are from Kampung Pendas, Gelang Patah, near here, went out to the sea at 5am this morning, and were panicking as they were caught in bad weather and the boat drifted off course for about six hours,“ he said in a statement.
Aminuddin said that MMEA personnel tried to repair the engine but failed due to bad weather and rough sea conditions besides being hampered by a limited choice of equipment.
He said all the anglers, who were unharmed, were later taken ashore at 3pm and their boat was towed by local fishermen to the Kampung Pendas jetty.
He advised the public to call MERS 999 or the Johor Bahru Maritime Search and Rescue Center (MRSC) at 07-2199404 in case of an emergency at sea. - Bernama
