SEBUYAU (Sarawak), July 21 — The process of righting the vessel is the best option to locate all the eight missing crew in the capsize of the ship MV Tung Sung, about four nautical miles north-west of Pulau Burung near Sebuyau waters on Wednesday.

Sarawak Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Maritime Malaysia) director First Admiral Zin Azman Md Yunus said that since the rescue operation is high risk, the shipping company needs to appoint a contractor capable of carrying out the floatation process of the vessel which has keeled over.

"This process needs to be done as soon as possible and it takes about four to five days if the weather is good and 10 days or more in bad weather.

"It is not easy for the ship’s company to identify a company capable of rigging this floatation process because it requires divers and equipment such as ships and cranes, which have the capacity to lift and righting the ship,” he said at the Operations Control Centre at Sebuyau jetty here today.

According to him, the salvage op must be done in an orderly and professional manner, and the floatation works will be stopped if the weather is bad for safety purposes.

"Divers need to identify the appropriate points to do underwater welding and hook each point with a cable to be connected to the crane, then a crane will pull the ship (upright) slowly,” he said, adding that the ship is now stranded in murky waters about 50 metres deep.

In the meantime, Zin Azman said based on the latest information, only eight crew members were identified to be aboard when the ship started its voyage, following the shipping company (manifest) confirming that Maxwell Billy Stimba, 26, did not board it.

He also said that based on initial assessment, foul weather and high waves on the night of the incident saw the ship keeling over quickly, rendering the crew unable to take any action to seek help.

Entering the second day of the search operation, he said MMEA had increased the manpower and patrol area with the involvement of 97 people consisting of officers and personnel from various agencies.

"We have roped in the Royal Malaysia Police, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Civil Defence Force and Sarawak Coast Guard. This operation involves a total of nine assets and a patrol sector of 373.65 square nautical miles compared to yesterday (210.48 sq nautical miles),” he said.

Zin Azman said the capsize occurred on Wednesday at about 11pm but Maritime Malaysia only received a report of the ship in distress at about 9.40am the next day before the search and rescue operation began at 1.20pm with MMEA vessel KM Kinabalu moved to the scene of the capsize.

The eight missing crew members are aged between 20 and 52 years old, with three of them being locals from Sibu identified as Chieng Siew Ngiek, Wong Hua Wu and Stimba Anak Chuit.

In addition, four more victims are Myanmar nationals That Min July, Ye Lin Htet, Hla Win Tun, Tun Lin Oo and an Indonesian Lido Ali Purwanto. — Bernama