Lost at sea – but still angling

KOTA KINABALU: A group of anglers stranded for 48 hours at sea off Pulau Mantanani and Menga­lum not far from here, joked and continued fishing to stay calm while waiting for help to arrive.

Richard Jimmy
, 45, one of the 13 people on board, said their boat engine seized on Saturday evening and they tried contacting the base for help but to no avail.

“But we were quite sure the people at the base would realise that we had run into trouble so we just relaxed – some continued fishing while others joked about the situation.

“We did not want to scare or worry ourselves sick,” he said upon his arrival at the Navy base in Sepanggar yesterday morning.

The group had left the Sabah Fish Marketing Authority jetty here at 11am on Friday and was supposed to return by 1pm on Sunday.

His wife Amelia Robert, 39, was there to welcome him back.

“I hope he doesn’t go out to sea anymore as I do not want to lose him,” she said, adding that he was a regular angler for the past 10 years.

Boat skipper Elvis Kibad, 50, said they had been fishing for some time at one spot and realise the engine had trouble only when they wanted to move to another location.

He said smoke started to come out from the engine so he told the other crewmen to switch the engine off.

To prevent the boat from drifting, he and the others threw an anchor into the sea and attached buoys to it.

“We tried to radio for help but only got a response on Monday,” he said.

Billy Ah Kau, 60, who goes to sea a few times a year, said the waters were quite calm and there was enough food.

He said it was important that they kept their minds from negati­vity throughout the two-day wait.

Sabah and Labuan Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director First Admiral Zubil Mat Som said it was a relief that the crew knew how to make sure that the boat did not drift too far away.

He said the MMEA managed to confirm the exact location and situa­tion on board at about 2.20pm on Monday.

Sabah Region 2 Naval Comman­der Rear Admiral Datuk Khairul Anuar Yahya said the KD Jerong started towing the boat back here at about 5.30pm on Monday.

The KD Jerong and the boat reached the Sepanggar navy base at about 7am yesterday.