Ship’s captain rescued after 18 hours adrift at sea

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) rescued the captain of the merchant ship MV Harbour Naptune, who was almost 18 hours adrift at sea at about 12.8 nautical miles southwest off Pulau Panjang yesterday.

Melaka and Negeri Sembilan MMEA director maritime captain Haris Fadzillah Abdullah said the victim, Gunawan, 42, an Indonesian, was found floating in the middle of the sea wearing a safety jacket at 5.45pm yesterday.

Haris Fadzillah said the victim was believed to have fallen into the sea at about 10pm on April 18, but his disappearance was only discovered around 3am the following morning when the crew found Gunawan was not in his cabin while the ship was about to berth at Pintu Gedung, Pulau Indah in Port Klang.

“A search and rescue operation was launched after receiving a complaint from the ship's agent that the captain had gone missing while the ship was on its way from Pasir Gudang Port to Port Klang.

Marine coastal guards who were involved in the victim's search and rescue operation received information that the victim had been found floating by a merchant ship passing through the area and rushed to the location,” he said in a statement today.

Haris Fadzillah said the captain, who only plied the Malaysian and Indonesian maritime routes and had no experience in manoeuvring his vessel beyond the littoral border, had not suffered any injury and was found free from Covid-19 in a screening conducted by health officers.

He said the ship’s crew had not been allowed to disembark from their vessel since March 18 following the implementation of the movement control order (MCO).

However, the merchant ship’s agent informed that the captain had to still undergo quarantine, he added.

He said they were also investigating how the ship's captain fell into the sea and if there was any foul play, the case would be handed over to an investigating officer for further action.

Haris Fadzillah said MMEA had also increased enforcement operations to curb and combat cross-border criminal activities in the waters of Melaka and Negeri Sembilan while also helping to break the Covid-19 infection chain during the MCO.

“The maritime community is also advised to be attentive to government directives and take safety measures at sea and people with information on crimes and emergencies at sea are asked to contact the Melaka and Negeri Sembilan Maritime operations centres at 06-3876 730 and MERS 999 which operates 24 hours,” he said.

- Bernama