KUANTAN: A Vietnamese fisherman who fell off a trawler managed to stay afloat at sea for several hours before he was rescued by a passing oil tanker some 240 nautical miles off Kuantan Port on Tuesday.
Biu Anh Tuan, 42, from Ho Chi Minh City, was rescued after the tanker crew members spotted him floating in the water about 10pm the same day.
Pahang Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director First Admiral Mazlan Mat Rejab said the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC) in Kuantan had received an email from the Maritime Rescue Control Centre (MRCC) in Singapore about the victim, who was found at sea.
"The oil tanker crew members had alerted the MRCC in Vietnam but the centre in Vietnam could not confirm nor provide any details about the fisherman.
"The United Kingdom-registered oil tanker Stolt Sneland berthed at Kuantan Port at 8am today and MRSC Kuantan informed the Vietnamese embassy (in Kuala Lumpur) about the fisherman. The embassy agreed for the man to be taken to the Pahang Immigration Department for documentation," he said in a statement.
Mazlan said the fisherman was handed to Immigration officers about 10.20am and he has been taken to the Kemayan depot in Bera.
Meanwhile, a Pahang MMEA spokesman said they could not verify details on how the fishermen had stayed afloat at sea and if he had proper documents due to the absence of an interpreter.