RMN Involvement Was Reciprocal Cooperation - Navy Chief

LUMUT (Perak, Malaysia), Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar (right) views the involvement of its ship in the search operation for the crashed AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 as reciprocal cooperation with the Indonesian Government. He said it showed Malaysia's readiness to be with the people of Indonesia in facing the sad episode after the aircraft went off the radar on Dec 28. "It (the search for the aircraft) does not involve any cost. This is part of our cooperation, commitment to cooperate with Indonesia. They were here in Malaysia to support our SAR (search and rescue operation) previously, this is reciprocal cooperation," he added. He was speaking to reporters on the return of the ship, KD Kasturi which took part in the search for Flight QZ8501. A total of 136 personnel and officers, including divers were involved in the SAR operation in Indonesia, headed by KD Kasturi commanding officer Captain Sharum Shaim who took over duties on Nov 25. Abdul Aziz also congratulated the successes of RMN assets, namely KD Pahang, KD Lekiu, KD Lekir, KD Kasturi and KD Perak and a Fennec helicopter in the search for the aircraft. "This shows our capability, our success in retrieving the bodies of 10 victims of the mishap. I am very proud of the success of KD Kasturi which only joined the operation on Jan 4, but was able to retrieve five bodies. "KD Lekir and KD Pahang each retrieved two bodies, and KD Perak, one," he said, adding that RMN's success also received congratulations from Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in his Twitter page Abdul Aziz @ChiefofNavy. In addition, he also received thanks from the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Body (Basarnas). Meanwhile, Shahrum said in an interview that the experiences and challenges faced by the KD Kasturi crew were the most unnerving moments when they had to cross the seas in inclement weather. "Our main challenge during the search operation was the clear weather during the day and the changing weather and turbulent sea. "We knew on the eighth day, the bodies would not be in good condition...especially, when we found two bodies which were still pinned to the aircraft seats at the bottom of the sea about 11am on Jan 5," he said. This was followed by the finding of the third body in the evening and two more on Jan 7 and 8, said Shahrum who was received upon arrival by daughter Nur Rifah Syahirah, 23, who is studying at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Puncak Perdana, Selangor. The Indonesian AirAsia aircraft went off the radar on Dec 28 while travelling to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia with 155 passengers and seven crew. The aircraft crashed in the waters off Pengkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA