This greatly increased chances of finding the boat quickly and rescuing the nine anglers and five crew members on board.

“The boat was also equipped with communication and signal tools,” Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Kota Kinabalu regional director First Admiral Adam Aziz told Malay Mail Online.

“This is the kind of fast reaction and cooperation we hope from all boat owners to help us find them in case of an emergency.”

The 42-foot catamaran had left on a fishing and island-hopping trip earlier at 9am from Sutera Harbour Marina but experienced engine troubles two hours later.

The MMEA received information about 4pm yesterday notifying them of a catamaran drifting in the waters, 11 nautical miles west of Sulug Island, near Kota Kinabalu.

Rescue boats had taken the anglers back to the resort about 3.30pm.

The five crew members, including a woman, stayed back on the boat to fix the engine and wait for help to tow the boat back to land.

MMEA later received another distress call to rescue the crew members and arrived at the scene at 7pm. By then the waves were high at 3.5m, with strong winds.

The catamaran was anchored at sea and MMEA brought the crew members back to the Sepanggar navy base at 11pm.

The boat owner, Liza Tsen, said she could not explain why both the engines on the boat had broken down but was glad everybody had returned to land safely.