Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said they were Norwegian diving coach Kristine Grodem, 35, Alexia Alexandra, 18, (France), Adrian Peter, 46, (British), and his 14-year-old son, Nathen Renze, from the Netherlands.

“It was not the first time they went diving as all of them are experienced divers and were upgrading their diving certification,” he told a press conference at Pengkalan Hadapan Carilamat at the Mersing jetty today.

Also present were Johor police chief Kamarul Zaman Mamat, Iskandar Mersing Camp officer Adi Ridzwan Abdullah and Johor Maritime Enforcement Agency chief First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria.

Onn Hafiz said the families of the victims had been informed and were understood to be on their way here.

He said the search and rescue operation would continue until the afternoon depending on the weather.

In the incident at noon yesterday, the four foreign divers were reported missing in the waters of Pulau Tokong Sanggol, about nine nautical miles from Tanjung Leman, here.

Following which, a search operation was mounted, but it was halted at 7.30pm because of poor visibility and resumed at 7am today.

Ninety members and officers from various agencies, including 30 divers and 18 assets, are involved in the search.