TANJUNG MANIS: The search and rescue (SAR) operation for Hendry Belaja, who was reported missing after he allegedly fell into the sea on Nov 21, has been called off after no new leads surfaced in the seven-day operation.
The decision was made at 5pm on Saturday (Nov 27) after rescue agencies comprising Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak, Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), Marine police and Civil Defence Force (APM) failed to find any new leads on the 26-year-old victim’s whereabouts.
As such, MMEA Tanjung Manis zone director Maritime Commander Gilbert Tinggak Numpang sought the cooperation and services of the maritime community as well as merchant ships to report any relevant findings to the agency for further action.
As of Saturday, the search radius had been expanded up to 61.55sq nautical miles involving 56 personnel.
For the search at sea, KM Cekal together Marine Police PA2 Boat concentrated their search around the waters of Pulau Bruit to Belawai. Meanwhile, the Bomba and APM conducted their search along the coast of Belawai to Kuala Paloh.
Overall, the total search area on the seventh day of the operation was 457.45sq nautical miles.
It was reported that the direction of the wind is from the northeast with wind speeds from 30 to 40km per hour and waves around 1m to 2.5m high.
On Nov 20, Hendry (nicknamed Boy) was believed to have fallen into the sea after one of the crew members saw him carrying a buoy to the back of the vessel at about 8pm.
It was around 4am the next day when they were about to start their fishing operation that they realised the victim was nowhere to be found.
An initial search party was conducted but to no avail, thus prompting the crew to lodge a police report for further assistance.
