Sydney, October 18: Australia said on Sunday it was helping Indonesian and Malaysian authorities deal with two boats, believed to be carrying hundreds of people, which reported being in distress off their coasts.
News of the vessels, which were reportedly heading towards Australia, comes just days after a boat carrying 255 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers was picked up by Indonesian authorities en route to western Australia.
“The Australian government is aware of reports of two vessels possibly in distress in Indonesian and Malaysian waters,” a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said.
“The Indonesian and Malaysian search and rescue authorities are the lead agencies. However, the Australian government through the Australian Maritime Safety Authority is providing assistance to those agencies.”
The spokesman said the Navy’s HMAS Armidale had met one of the boats some 296 nautical miles north-northwest of Australia’s remote Christmas Island and 120 nautical miles from Indonesia’s Sumatra.
The area falls under Indonesia’s responsibility in terms of international search and rescue operations.
“The people on board the vessel are safe and no major medical problems have been identified,” the spokesman said.
“The intentions of the group are not known at this point.” The spokesman said he had no further details on the second boat, which Australian media reported was sinking in Malaysian waters.
–Agencies