KOTA KINABALU: The body of a tugboat crew member who drowned in waters off Pulau Papan, Labuan, was found on Friday (June 23) morning.
Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director for Labuan, Captain Nudin Jusoh said the victim, Kenneth Saing, 33, who worked onboard a local tugboat, was reported to have gone missing from the vessel on Thursday (June 22).
According to other crew members on board, the last they saw Kenneth was around 6pm that day, he said in a statement Friday (June 23).
“His personal belongings were still on board but he was nowhere to be found,” he said, adding the tugboat was listing before it continued its journey to Miri, Sarawak.
Nudin said the MMEA received a report on this incident at around 8.35pm and a search operation was activated at 9.40pm.
“The search operation involved other agencies such as the marine police, Fire and Rescue Department personnel and Civil Defence,” he said.
He said the victim was discovered at around 7.45am, Friday, some 20m south of the Labuan Ferry jetty.
Nudin said the body was handed over to the police forensics team for further action and the search operation was stopped at 8.35am.
He urged the public to immediately contact the authorities if they know or suspect of any emergency or accidents at sea.
The numbers to call include MERS 999 and the MMEA Labuan operations centre at 087-427 999.
