LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has recommended that fishing boat owners and fishermen use personal locator beacons (PLBs) while at sea to make it easier for the authorities to locate them in the event of an emergency.
Kedah and Perlis MMEA director, First Maritime Admiral Mohd Zawawi Abdullah, said the use of the devices was still under-emphasised by the maritime community in the country, even though it was actually able to prevent untoward incidents from occurring.
“This PLB can accurately determine the exact location of emergencies that occur at sea. If the boat that capsized in yesterday’s incident used this PLB, we could save time in search operations.
“Even though the boat capsized, if the PLB is still attached to the skipper or other individuals in the boat, we can accurately track their position,” he said when met by reporters here today.
According to him, compared with radio or the global positioning system (GPS) that relies on radio signals, PLB, which uses satellite technology systems, can work better even when the weather is bad or far from land.
Commenting on the capsized boat incident, involving 18 passengers and crew members in Langkawi waters yesterday, he said that he was relieved that the incident occurred not far from Langkawi.
“Alhamdulillah, yesterday’s incident occurred only 9.4 miles from Pulau Singa Besar, but if it happened in Pulau Perak, which is 60 miles from Langkawi, and we needed to determine the position of the boat first, it could have ended up badly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Zawawi said that the MMEA commended the action of the boat skipper, who ensured that all anglers and crew members were floating close to each other for almost seven hours in the waters while waiting for help.
“They stuck close to each other to prevent anyone from drifting or being separated. Alhamdulillah, they all wore safety jackets that worked well,“ he said.
In yesterday’s incident, all four crew members and 14 local anglers, aged 26 to 55, were rescued by a local fishing boat at 7.30 pm, after the boat they were on capsized at 2.15 pm, 9.4 nautical miles west of Pulau Beras Basah near here. — Bernama