CB204: SAR mission underway to find missing Royal Malaysian Navy gunship
Astro Awani
October 6, 2014 11:14 MYT
October 6, 2014 11:14 MYT
SAR mission underway to find missing Royal Malaysian Navy gunship CB204
Rough seas and bad weather are hampering the search for the missing Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) gunship CB204, said Navy chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.
In a series of tweet, he confirmed that search and rescue operations (SAR) has began since morning.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has deployed six RMN assets despite 'low rain clouds' condition that has attributed to halting of the SAR operations.
The Navy Chief added that four sectors have been established in the SAR operations.
Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) has jumped in to deploy a Beechcraft aircraft to assist with SAR.
On social media, concerned Malaysians have called out for the safety of the crew by using the hashtag #prayforCB204.
The RMN on Sunday said they have lost all communication with the combat vessel as it headed to an RMN station on Layang-Layang atoll off Sabah.
The CB90 type of combat vessel, assigned to operate from RMN Station Five on the atoll, lost communication with the escort vessel KD Paus during the voyage, said Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.
He said in a statement that the vessel left the RMN base in Kota Kinabalu at 5 am on Sunday and lost radio communication with the escort vessel at 11.15 am.
The gunboat’s last known position was 20 nautical miles northeast Pulau Mengalum around 1.05pm Sunday.