Wreck of second incident found
Published on: Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The wreckage of the second catamaran to capsize within a month after departing from the Sutera Harbour jetty for a fishing trip off Pulau Sapi on Feb. 13 was found about 100 metres from Pantai Membakut on Sunday. It was initially thought to be that of the first catamaran carrying 28 China tourists and three crew which capsized near Pulau Mengalum, off Kota Kinabalu, on Jan 28, with five of them still missing. "We were alerted by a caller named Azman at about 11.02am who told us about a boat stranded on the Membakut beach about 100 metres from the beach," said Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sabah and Labuan Regional Director First Admiral Mohd Zubil Mat Som.
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"Initial observation by the caller was that the boat is the catamaran which capsized in Pulau Mengalum waters while carrying 28 China tourists and three crew on Jan 28," he said on Monday. The information was channelled to the Labuan Maritime with Kilat 40 assigned to the location, arriving at the reported site at about 2.39pm. A team from the marine police was also at the site to assist. The identity of the boat was later established to be that of Fat Cat Tours Sdn Bhd registered as SJN 01309 X which encountered problems and capsized 10 nautical miles west off Pulau Mengalum on Feb. 13.Mohd Zubil said this was further proven by looking at the Global Positioning System's (GPS) photo sent by Kilat 40 and the position of the site where the incident took place.
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The two-storey catamaran was carrying nine anglers and five crew when it encountered problems between Pulau Tiga and Pulau Sulug on Feb. 13. Nine anglers were saved by two boats from Sutera Harbour some 11 nautical miles south west off Pulau Sulug, while the five crew were rescued by MMEA at about 7.10pm the same day.
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State Police Commissioner Datuk Ramli Din confirmed that the frame of a boat was found off Membakut's coast. It was initially spotted by villagers at about noon on Sunday. Meanwhile, MMEA continued its search for the five people, four of them China tourists and one Malaysian crew, as operations entered its 24th day on Monday. Nine assets were deployed to scour 300 nautical miles the waters off Sabah, Miri and Brunei. "There are still no new leads reported thus far, but rescue operations will continue until we get further orders from the top," said Mohd Zubil. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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