SAR operation called off for missing divers at 6pm, to resume on Saturday (April 9)

MERSING: Search and rescue operations to find the three missing scuba divers in the waters of Pulau Tokong Sanggol were halted on Friday (April 8) evening.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency's (MMEA) Mersing director Khairul Nizam Misran, said the operation, which started at 3am, was halted at 6pm as there was no new information from the water and aerial assets.

“The operation will resume tomorrow morning (April 9) at 7am, focusing on areas further south around the Tanjung Pengelih waters.

“Our SAR operation today managed to cover 1,075 nautical miles (1,990km) of the search areas and, as of 6pm, there was no new information on sightings, even from the last aircraft we deployed at 1pm today,” he said at the operation centre in Mersing Public Jetty here.

“We will deploy a ground SAR along the beach areas in case the victims have washed ashore,” he added.

Earlier, one of the four European divers who went missing on Wednesday (April 6), divemaster Kristine Grodem, 35, from Norway, had been rescued some 20 hours after a SAR mission was launched and about 55km away from the dive site.

Grodem was found floating, complete with her diving suit and equipment, by a tugboat heading to Thailand from Indonesia on Thursday (April 7) at 8.15am.

The current SAR is to locate the missing trio - British national Adrian Peter, 46; his 14-year-old son Nathen Renze, who is a Dutch national; and French woman Alexia Alexandra, 18.

The four were last seen on Pulau Tokong Sanggol before a scuba diving exercise near the island, which is nine nautical miles (16km) from the Johor mainland.

Some of the assets involved in the search and rescue operation include two aircraft, two helicopters, 11 boats, and 10 jet skis.