RMN's missing CB204 found, all seven crew safe

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN)'s combat boat CB90 which went missing off Pulau Mengalum in Sabah yesterday has been found and all its seven crew members are reported safe, said RMN chief Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

Abdul Aziz, who disclosed the development in his Twitter account, confirmed that the boat commander Lieutenant Azri Bakar had made a call via radio to inform that all the crew members were safe.

"Boat CB204: Lt Azri, boat commander informs KD Ganas via Ch16, boat and all crew members are safe but hungry. Alhamdulillah," he said in his Twitter account at 6.10pm today.

In a statement last night, Abdul Aziz said the combat boat had left the navy base in Kota Kinabalu at 5am on Sunday before losing radio communication contact with another vessel at 11.15am.

The combat boat lost contact with KD Paus while they were heading to RMN's 'Station Lima' at Terumbu Layang-Layang, Sabah.

Meanwhile, in Kota Kinabalu, a spokesman from the RMN base in Sepanggar said the seven on board the vessel - Lt Azri Bakar, 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 - are all safe.

The spokesman added that the vessel which encountered mechanical problem (steering) was found about 30 nautical miles off Pulau Layang Layang after establishing contact with its crew at 4.15pm.

"A RMN vessel, KD Ganas is on its way to tow CB90 to the nearest station in Gugusan Semarang, Pulau Layang Layang," he said.