Boatmen use their experience to rescue duo

KOTA KINABALU: Their experience as boatmen paid off for Edward Delos Reyes and Chu Chung Ying who rescued the catamaran skipper Sharizal Shalian and crewman Aman Abdul.

They had set off to help in the search operations, departing Kota Kinabalu for Pulau Tiga in a longboat at about 8pm on Saturday after getting word about the missing vessel.

“We realised that if anything happened to the catamaran or the passengers, they would be drifting in a southerly direction, carried by the sea currents,” said Edward when met at the Karamunsing police station here. They were present to be interviewed by police who had also questioned Sharizal and Aman.

Edward, who has been a boatman for about a decade, said it was about 4.30am when they heard some voices shouting for help in waters off Pulau Tiga.

He said he and Chu pulled Sharizal and Aman into their boat and gave them water and biscuits before continuing the search.

Edward said they stopped at 11am when they became too tired and hungry to continue the search.