Hopes dimmed Saturday for finding a sailing trainee alive who fell off his vessel without a life jacket into choppy seas off Singapore, the dpa reported.
Ten boats from the Police Coast Guard and Navy divers have been searching for Indonesian native Levin Angsana who fell into the water on Thursday while trying to retrieve the boat's sail.
Crewmate Renfred Ray, 23, jumped in and managed to grab him, but Angsana apparently kept struggling, The Straits Times said. When Tay tried to grab a life jacket a short distance away, Angsana went under.
There were several life jackets on board, the report said. "Water has no mercy," National Water Safety Council chairman Teo Ho Pin was quoted as saying.
Malaysian marine police were asked to keep an eye out for the Indonesian native who was studying at Singapore Management University. He took up sailing last year and joined the school team.
Seventeen students were out in three boats on Thursday, preparing for the Western Circuit Sailing Regatta in August.
Angsana went overboard as his boat was heading back to the Raffles Marina following a three-hour training session.
"I know it will be a shock to his university friends because the school he is in is a particularly small and close-knit group," said SMU President Howard Hunter.