Search area for assistant boat skipper expanded

Sarawak Maritime director First Admiral Zin Azman Md Yunus said the search area has also been expanded up to a radius of 312.71 nautical miles.

"The focus of the search is in the areas such as the coastline of Tanjung Po, Pulau Lakei, Santubong, Tanjung Sipang, Pulau Satang, Pantai Trombol, Telaga Air up to Tanjung Datu.

"The boat which sank about 2.8 nautical miles northwest of Pulau Satang was retrieved by the owner before being taken to the Telaga Air jetty around 2 pm today," he said in a statement today.

On Oct 2, the boat carrying 10 angles sank two nautical miles from the waters of Pulau Satang and nine of them were rescued by fishermen near Pulau Satang Besar at about 1 am on Sunday (Oct 3).

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Zin Azman said the SAR operation for a fishing boat with five anglers, which reportedly did not return to the Santubong Fishing Village after leaving the jetty at 5 pm on Oct 1, also did not obtain positive leads.

"The SAR covered an area of 439.5 nautical miles and the focus of the search was in the areas of Tanjung Datu waters, 15 nautical miles off the coast," he said.