Johor maritime director Nurul Hizam Zakaria said all of them were in good health when discovered by the Indonesian military at 1.45pm.

He said the staff members were the Tanjung Sedili Base fisheries assistant Fatimah Razak, 36; and marine assistants Zaharin Baharudin, 33, Abd Halim Sanip, 52 and Marzuki Jusoh, 53.

“The boat they were on was believed to have suffered battery failure before it drifted into Indonesian waters about 13 nautical miles from their last known location.

“We are in the process of bringing the boat home, which is currently being repaired by the Indonesian military. The staff will be accompanied by the Indonesian military during the handover process in Johor Barat waters,” he told reporters at the Sungai Pulai maritime jetty here.

Johor fisheries director Zainudin Abd Wahab was also present.

Nurul Hizam expressed his appreciation to all the agencies involved in the search and rescue (SAR) operation including the Indonesian military and consulate-general, as well as the Singapore consulate-general.

The rescue operation codenamed “Op Carilamat” officially ended at 2pm this afternoon.

The boat left Tanjung Pengelih, Pengerang, at about 12.45pm yesterday and was scheduled to reach Pangkalan Tampoi, in Johor Bahru, at 6.30pm. It could not be contacted a few hours into the journey.

Earlier, agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said the SAR operation spanning 47 nautical miles was carried out using assets belonging to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, aided by agencies from Singapore and Indonesia.