THE bodies of two Indonesian men were found floating by a cargo vessel worker in the waters of the Abu Bakar Maritime Base, Batuan Tengah, near Kota Tinggi, yesterday.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Johor director First Admiral (Maritime) Aminuddin Abdul Rashid said the bodies were identified as Rivaldi S. Milandi, 22, and Boby, 21, from Benkong, Batam, who worked for a speedboat services company.

“The Johor Baru Marine Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) received information from the Indonesian search and `rescue agency (Basarnas) at 11.40am that the vessel KLM Mitra Sejati discovered two bodies strapped in lifejackets floating about four nautical miles southwest of the base in Batuan Tengah at 11am.

“They are believed to be the two individuals seen floating in the waters by a worker from another vessel, Black Forest, at about 2.5 nautical miles in the same location at 8.40am on August 30. 

“The bodies were later brought to Batam jetty and handed over to the Indonesian marine police for further action,” he said in a statement today.

The Black Forest had been unable to recover the bodies earlier due to the busy sea traffic and the risks involved, he said, adding that the MMEA search and rescue operation ended about 12.15pm.

The search was spread over an area of 140 square nautical miles from the waters of Tompoh Utara, Batuan Tengah to Tanjung Penyusup. – Bernama, August 31, 2019.