KUANTAN: A communication system breakdown led to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN)' s KD Perdana boarding boat to be left adrift at sea for more than 48 hours.
RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin said the boarding boat with nine sailors were chasing a group of foreign fishermen out of Malaysian waters when they lost contact with KD Perdana.
"There was no engine failure. It was merely a break in radio communication. When the KD Perdana and the boat could not reach each other, it led to difficulty in coordination, resulting in the boat being ledt adrift," he told reporters after welcoming the nine sailors along with other members of KD Perdana at the Tanjung Gelang naval base today.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Kamarulzaman said a board of inquiry led by a senior RMN officer will investigate the incident involving KD Perdana's boarding boat.
He said the board will look into all aspects of the incident to identify what had actually occurred at sea on that respective day.
One of the sailors, Mohd Zaidi Rahim said the nine survived at sea by drinking mineral water as there was no food on the boat.
"Nine of us had to share one bottle of mineral water and we had to be careful as we were already facing shortage.
"After several hours at sea, our boat ran out of petrol and we could only pray that someone finds us," he said, adding that being out at sea for almost 50 hours "seemed like a week."
The nine sailors were reported missing following an operation against illegal fishing activities about 29 nautical miles off Tanjung Sedili in Johor on Saturday.
The 1pm incident involved one officer and eight other personnel of other ranks, who were a part of the RMN’s first fast-attack craft (missile) KD Perdana’s boarding team.
KD Perdana was on its routine patrolling duties, sailing in waters off Tanjung Sedili, when they spotted foreign fishing vessels carrying out their activities in Malaysian waters.