"Kawan Mas" express boat located 350 meters away from Giam Bungan

The "Kawan Mas" express boat has been located about 350 meters away from the Giam Bungan where it sunk on May 28 and resting on rock at a depth of about 18 metres in the Rajang River.

Belaga police chief DSP Bakar Sebau said scuba divers from the Therra Horizon Sdn Bhd, the Petronas subsidiary company tasked to continue with the Search and Rescue Operation, located the boat at about 5.45pm yesterday.

He said the company was waiting for the arrival of another three divers, a naval engineer and all the necessary equipment to try to refloat it.

"I have been told their equipment will be here by Tuesday for them to start work the following day.

"In the meantime, my men, the Fire and Rescue Department, RELA and Civil Defence Department personnel will continue with their surface search," said Bakar, who is still in charge of the operation.

Meanwhile, when met by Bernama, Therra Horizon technical advisor Captain Khairul Azeman Mokhtar said the refloating of the boat would be a very tedious and painstaking process.

"We need to be ultra careful. We do not want to break up the boat in the process. This can happen due to the water pressure.

"We have also asked our naval engineer from Kuala Lumpur to come to direct and supervise the whole operation," he said.

Capt Khairul said they would need a whole day to attach their floatation system to the sides of the boat.

"Then we have to tie four floaters of five ton each before pumping air into them," he said.

He pointed out that the pumping of air needed to be done very gradually and he expected the boat to be brought to the surface within two days.

"We hope to be able to do so when the Bakun Hydro Dam releases its excess water into the river so that we can have more surface height," he said.

Capt Khairul said the refloatation operation would be the first ever done in Sarawak and the third in the country so far.

The "Kawan Mas" was bringing more than 200 passengers when it sank at Giam Bungan, one of the notorious rapids in the upper reaches of the Rajang River, after hitting a log and developing engine problem.

Some 213 passengers survived, two identified as Roslin Jati, 34, and Maurice Ajan, 22, are still missing and one had been confirmed dead.

The boat was packed with workers returning to celebrate the annual Gawai Dayak festival on June 1 and was licensed to carry only 64 passengers.