PONTIAN, February 19– The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Maritim Malaysia) Johor has launched a search and rescue (SAR) operation to find a crew member of an Indian merchant ship who is believed to have fallen into the sea off the country's waters on Monday.

Captain Kama Azri Kamil, Acting Director of Johor Maritime, said the incident occurred 1.4 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Bin when the Marshall Islands-registered vessel was en route from Tanjung Pelepas Port to Singapore.

The missing crew member, identified as 36-year-old Sandeep, was last seen at 7:30 p.m. on the day of the incident, wearing orange clothing.

Kama added that the search is concentrated around the Tanjung Bin waters and involves 44 officers, along with five sea assets and five land assets from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), and other relevant agencies.

The Putrajaya Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) has also reached out to the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency and Singaporean authorities for assistance in locating the missing individual.