Malaysia ends Indonesia migrant boat search after recovering all 16 missing bodies

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia said on May 18 it had ended a search for passengers of a migrant boat from Indonesia that sank off the country’s western coast last week after the bodies of all 16 missing were recovered.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in Perak state said 23 people were rescued after the vessel sank off Pangkor island west of peninsular Malaysia on May 11.

Perak MMEA director Mohamad Shukri Khotob told AFP that the search was called off on May 16.

“It’s the standard (procedure) for us to carry out search and rescue mission for six days. We ended the search at 7pm on Saturday after there were no new discoveries in the area,” Mr Mohamad Shukri said by telephone on May 18.

He said all 23 survivors were Indonesian but he was unsure if the 16 dead were all their compatriots.

The migrants were trying to reach several destinations in Malaysia, including Penang, Terengganu, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur for work.

Mr Mohamad Shukri said initial information from survivors that there were 37 people on board was inaccurate, as those rescued and the body count totalled 39.

Aside from the MMEA, the search mission also involved the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Marine Police Force and local fisherfolk.

Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia, many of them undocumented, working in industries including construction and agriculture.

But the crossings, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, are often hazardous leading to boats capsizing.

In one of the deadliest recent incidents, 36 migrants died in November 2025 after their boat capsized near the Thai-Malaysian coast. AFP