Nine Navy men missing off Johor waters

PETALING JAYA: Nine Navy personnel have been missing since Saturday after their boat lost contact during a routine patrol in waters off Johor.

The Navy said the boat with an officer and eight personnel was patrolling the waters together with fast attack craft KD Perdana off Tanjung Sedili when both vessels lost communication with each other.

"The Royal Malaysian Navy has confirmed an incident where KD Perdana lost communication with a boat ferrying a Boarding Team in the waters of Sedili at 201300H (8.13pm) on Saturday," said a Navy statement on Sunday.

Search operations started at 9.19pm on the day the boat went missing and has been expanded with more vessels.

KD Perdana, a fast attack craft, and the boat were in Tanjung Sedili waters for maritime routine patrols. Prior to that, the vessels were involved in operations against foreign fishing boats.

The last known coordinates of the boat is 29 nautical miles east of Tanjung Sedili Besar.

The statement said the missing personnel are believed to be in nearby coasts or taking shelter with fishermen in the area.