Thrown overboard, Bangladeshi crewman still missing at sea

ISKANDAR PUTERI: A Bangladeshi crewman is feared to have drowned after he fell overboard a Liberia-registered Als Clivia vessel, at Tanjung Pelepas Port in Gelang Patah, here, yesterday.

The victim identified as Miah Md Ujjal, 35, is still missing at press time.

Fire and Rescue Department operation commander Mohd Khairi Zainuddin, said the victim who was working onboard the container ship, is believed to have fallen overboard at the height of six metres into the sea.

"We received the emergency call alerting us to the incident at 11.12am yesterday.

"The victim was working onboard the vessel which was docked at Vessel 76, Block 15 at the port, when it is believed he slipped and fell overboard due to the rough sea.

"A search and rescue effort was immediately done by port safety officers, conducting searches within a 25 metre radius from where the victim had fallen but was unable to locate the victim," Mohd Khairi said.

The department dispatched 24 personnel including their Water Rescue Unit and their rescue utility vehicles in their search and rescue (SAR) effort.

However, the operation was brought to a halt at 3.15pm due to hazardous sea currents exceeding two knots, which posed a danger threat to the Water Rescue Unit.

The SAR efforts resumed two hours later. The victim, however, remains missing.

Mohd Khairi said the SAR operations were still ongoing at press time.