SANDAKAN: The Sandakan zone of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) rescued a group of 15 Philippines nationals, mostly teaching staff of a polytechnic college, after the ship they were travelling in drifted into Malaysian waters last Saturday (Jan 8).

       Sandakan MMEA deputy operations director Commander Ahmad Firdaus Shaari said the agency was alerted to an incident by the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) of a ship capsising in the waters off Kinabatangan.

       "They (victims) were on their way from Bongao Island in the Philippines to Taganak Island (Philippines) about 199km away to carry out a programme when their ship encountered problems and could not be repaired.

       "The ship then drifted into our (Malaysian) waters and a strong wave pushed them further and landed on the coast of an island in Kinabatangan, where they (victims) realised that the ship was slowly sinking," he told reporters just before sending the victims off to the Malaysia-Philippines border, where the Philippines navy awaited their arrival, here today.

       Ahmad Firdaus said all the victims, consisting of 13 men and two women, were brought to Sandakan where a routine Covid-19 screening was conducted and found all were free from the virus, and were provided accommodation and food as well as other necessities, while arrangement was made to ensure their safe return to the Philippines.

       He said about 40 MMEA personnel escorted the victims in three boats and a ship to the border.

       One of the passengers of the unfortunate ship, Karnahar Mayan, 41, said she and her colleagues were on their way to conduct training assessments at Taganak Island when the ship broke down in the middle of the sea.

       "We left Bongao Island on the morning of Jan 6. Then, at around 11.30am, the ship broke down and we were left stranded at sea.

       "The ship's captain and mechanic tried to fix the engine, but by the following morning (Jan 7) when we woke up, we were still at sea," she said, adding that at around 6pm (Jan 7), a strong wave swept the ship to a shore.

       Karnahar said the passengers and crew of the ship sought refuge on the top deck and were fortunate that there were people on the island catching crabs, who supplied them with food and alerted the authorities.

       She said they were rescued at around 2pm the following day (Jan 8) and expressed gratitude towards the Malaysian authorities, especially MMEA, for their excellent treatment throughout their stay in Sandakan while awaiting to return home. - Bernama