Pagan Sailors Convert, While the Prophet Runs Away

[The sailors'] reverence for Yahweh is expressed in precisely the same terms that described their fear of the storm: 'and the men feared YHWH with a great fear' (Jon. 1:16). This can hardly be something less than whole-hearted conversion to Yahweh: as already noted, the phrase 'to fear/revere God' in the OT consistently describes those who have and maintain a healthy relationship with Yahweh.

--Daniel C. Timmer, A Gracious and Compassionate God: Mission, Salvation and Spirituality in the Book of Jonah (New Studies in Biblical Theology; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011), 73.