The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) is still searching for the man that went missing while travelling on a boat en route from capital Malé City to Mandhoo island in Alif Dhaal atoll.

27-year-old Ali Shah was travelling to the island to quarantine himself at home, when he was reported missing from “Ranthari” boat.

MNDF squadron searching for the man cited individuals who traveled on the boat with him, having stated that the boat entered the island’s harbor around 1:10am. MNDF received the missing persons report at around 2:10am on Friday.

MNDF cited the boat’s captain, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim having stated that Shah went missing after the boat entered his native island, Mandhoo’s lagoon and that the last time someone had spoken to Shah was 30 minutes before the boat entered the island’s lagoon.

The boat is to have left the Malé airport jetty at 7pm, Thursday with six individuals onboard including Shah, the boat’s captain told RaajjeMV.

Ibrahim stated that Shah was standing on top of the row of seats at the very back of the boat, when he last spoke to him, close to 12:45am.

Stressing that the seas were moderate when they were travelling, Ibrahim stated that he does not know why Shah could have fallen overboard.

Shah was wearing a long-sleeved brown checkered shirt and jeans when he went missing.

The team of MNDF coast guard divers are scanning the surface of the waters in the region.