Navy to join search for missing commando

MELAKA: The Navy will join the search and rescue (SAR) to find an Army commando who went missing and is feared drowned on Tuesday (Feb 7) near Pulau Undan here.

Melaka Tengah OCPD Asst Comm Christopher Patit said the Navy will join other agencies involved in the search when it resumes on Friday (Feb 10).

"We have yet to get any clues on the missing soldier," he said on Thursday (Feb 9).

Meanwhile, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Melaka/Negri Sembilan director Maritime Captain Iskandar Ishak said the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre has also informed the Indonesian maritime authority to assist the search operation.

"There was a possibility of the victim being drifted to the Indonesian waters based on the data from SAR Optimal Planning System (Sarops),"he said.

Sarops is a comprehensive SAR planning system and can be used in both coastal and oceanic environments.

Iskandar said 18 vessels, including three aircraft, are being utilised in the SAR with 175 personnel from various departments and agencies.

The army personnel identified as L/Kpl Edrin Baintim, 25, believed to have gone missing in diving gear while undergoing combat dive training about 0.7 nautical mile from Pulau Undan coastline here on Tuesday (Feb 7).