KUCHING: An Indonesian skipper was rescued after his foreign fishing vessel drifted for nearly 10 days before washing ashore at the Telaga Air jetty on Thursday due to engine failure.
Sarawak Maritime Director, First Admiral Mohd Khairi Abdul Aziz, said villagers at Kampung Telaga Air alerted the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) Kuching upon noticing the unmanned vessel approaching the jetty.
A Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) team was deployed and later found the skipper onboard the vessel, exhausted but unharmed.
“Further checks showed the vessel had run out of fuel and suffered damage to its gearbox system and navigation equipment.
“The mechanical failure left the skipper drifting at sea without the ability to return to his home country,” he said in a statement.
MRSC Kuching subsequently lodged a police report at Batu Kawa Police Station before handing the skipper over to the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia representative, Bapak Hendy, for follow-up action.
