SEBUYAU: A cargo ship with nine crew members on board, is believed to have capsized in the waters off Pulau Burung today.
A spokesman for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak confirmed that their assets are at the scene after receiving a report on the incident at around 9.40 am.
“The Maritime Kota Kinabalu ship is now at the scene of the incident, however, no victims have been found so far.
“We have deployed our maritime assets to the scene and requested assistance from the Police Air Wing Unit’s AS355N aircraft to search for the nine missing victims,” the spokesman said in a brief message.
As at press time, authorities have yet to release an official statement pertaining to the incident.
The identities of the nine crew members as well as the cause of the incident are yet to be known.
Meanwhile, the Fire and Rescue Department in a statement said the search and rescue (SAR) operation led MMEA will commence today (July 21).
The department noted that the cargo ship is named Tung Sung and its nine crew members comprised four locals, four Myanmar nationals and one Indonesian.
