JAKARTA - Indonesian rescuers last Friday (Nov 15) officially ended the joint search operation for two of three missing divers in the waters between Sumatra and Java islands.

The helicopters and vessels used in the operation have been recalled.

Mr Muhammad Zaenal Arifin, chief of the Banten chapter of the National Search and Rescue Agency said on Monday (Nov 18) that search and rescue agencies in individual provinces would continue monitoring their own waters.

"Going forward, the monitoring will be carried out by search and rescue agencies in Banten, Lampung and others in Sumatra's west coast," he told The Straits Times.

The three missing divers were identified as Singaporean Wang Bing Yang and two Chinese nationals, Mr Qin Xue Tao and Mr Tian Yu. They were among six foreigners who went diving in Indonesian waters on Nov 3 in two groups. But only one group returned to base on Sangiang Island in Banten province.

The search operation, which involved about 150 personnel and 14 vessels, was extended twice, first on Nov 9 and then again on Nov 12.

The second extension followed the discovery of a body in waters near Lampung province in Sumatra by local fishermen.

The body, clad in a diving suit, along with diving equipment, was found around 12.9km from Bengkunat port in Pesisir Barat Regency of Lampung. The location was dozens of kilometres away from where the divers set off into the water.

Local media reports described the body to be of someone in his 50s who was around 175cm tall and fair-skinned. The dead man was wearing a Suunto dive watch, which was still running.

Indonesian police are now conducting forensic tests on the body but local media said only one family had filed their DNA, teeth and fingerprint data to help in the identification process.