LUMUT: Four people from a sinking boat off Sekinchan waters were rescued today.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) district director Maritime Captain Zulinda Ramly said two of them were Malaysians while the others were an Indonesian and a Myanmar national.
She said the Lumut District 3 operations room received an alert from the headquarters on the incident about 12.10pm today.
"We were informed that a local fishing boat with registration number PPF 631 had sank.
"They were rescued by a merchant ship, YM Inventive, that was on its way to Chittagong (Bangladesh).
"Our team, led by Lieutenant Commander (M) Mazzukei Mohamad on KM Perwira, was deployed to the site.
"The poor condition of boat, compounded by strong waves, caused the boat to sink, forcing the victims to jump off the vessel," she said in a statement.
She said the boat had left the Hutan Melintang jetty on Sunday (Dec 4) and had been at sea for three days.
She said the victims were moved to KM Perwira at 2pm and later transferred to MMEA's Petir 80 boat.
"They arrived at the Kampung Acheh jetty at 6.30pm and were sent for further medical checks and treatment," she said, adding that the boat owner was informed of the incident.