Malaysian marine police search for missing crew of capsized boat

Fri, 31 Dec 2010

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian maritime officers on Friday mounted a search for four Thai nationals and a local man who were on board a trawler that capsized in rough seas off the eastern coast of Pahang state.

The 52-ton Malaysian trawler had gone out to sea Wednesday, but authorities only received word that it had capsized late Thursday, said Abdul Aziz Idrus, district maritime enforcement chief.

Abdul Aziz said maritime officers located the boat late Thursday but had yet to find the four missing Thai crewmen and the Malaysian skipper.

Three rescue vessels and more than 30 officers have been deployed to the area, he said.

"The bad weather is a hindrance to the search and rescue effort," Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.

"They will continue to look for the missing persons until 7 pm [1100 GMT], but it will be stopped earlier if the weather worsens," he said.

Year-end monsoon rains have prompted Malaysia's meteorological department to issue a warning to fishermen to avoid going out into deep water because of strong winds and rough seas, which were expected to persist until the middle of January.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360237,missing-crew-capsized-boat.html.