In the beginning, the boats were relatively small and only carried 60 or 70 passengers, Rohingya Society of Malaysia President Sultan Ahmed explained. They soon became larger, squeezing in at least 200 passengers. Women and children began coming in large numbers in 2011. In 2012, large cargo boats were pressed into service; these could accommodate 600 or 700 passengers, as was seen this May in some of the boats set adrift in the Andaman Sea by traffickers.