'Looking forward to son's return' - Lieutenant Azri's father

After a gruelling 30 hours of no news and communication from his son Lt Azri Bakar, the commander of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Combat vessel CB204, Bakar Hassan was full of gratitude to know his son is well and will return today (Wednesday).

Bakar also said he is grateful that no unfortunate incident happened after his son and those on board the CB204 combat ship that went missing in the Sabah waters on Sunday.

“I’ve been told that the vessel with all crew will arrive tomorrow. I can’t wait until tomorrow. I'm too is grateful to learn that everyone is safe. Alhamdulilah, there was no untoward incidents that occurred,” he said when contacted earlier today.

On Monday, Bakar expressed his concern over the incident and said his trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah was to get the latest updates about the safety of the seven-crew members.

Navy Region II commander Rear Admiral Datuk Mohammad Rosland Omar said the CB204 will arrive at the base in Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu between 11am and 7pm today (Wednesday).

Added Bakar, the family will organise a kenduri soon as a gesture of gratitude of his son's safety.

“I am going to organise a majlis kesyukuran because nothing happened. It’s hard to express my gratitude at this moment,” he said.

Apart from Lt Azri, the crew on board CB204 were BK PAP Charles Cristopher Muni, BM TMK Ince Ewin, BM TMK Steven Hudson Miso, BM JTP Nor Azuan Ariffin, LK KOM Sulhajji Daah and LK I PAP Azhry Maani.

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 vessel left the RMN base in Kota Kinabalu at 5am on Sunday and lost radio communication with the escort vessel at 11.15 am.

The vessel was found about 30 nautical miles off Pulau Layang Layang after establishing contact with its crew at 4.15pm on Monday.