KOTA TINGGI, May 1 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has initiated a search-and-rescue (SAR) operation for three crew members who went missing after their oil tanker caught fire in the waters off Tanjung Sedili here today.
The three were part of a 28-crew Gabon-registered vessel en route from China to Singapore, which caught fire at about 4pm.
Johor MMEA director Maritime First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the tanker had reportedly been 37.5 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Sedili when the fire broke out at 4pm.
He said MMEA received an alert from the Johor Baru Maritime Rescue Sub Center (MRSC) on the troubled tanker.
“MMEA immediately despatched a patrol boat to the tanker’s location.
“MMEA personnel managed to rescue the two crew members who were at sea,” he said in a statement tonight.
Nurul Hizam said 23 crew members were earlier rescued by two ships near the incident’s location.
“The remaining three crew members are still unaccounted for and missing,” he said, adding that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
