Eight crew members of the offshore supply ship ‘Bos Azlina’ were rescued after it capsized some nine nautical miles Northwest of Kuala Kemena, Bintulu on Wednesday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the crew members including the master were all Indonesians aged between 31 and 48.
The agency MMEA received a distress signal from the Malaysia-flagged vessel and deployed Bot Kilat 44 to the location.
Preliminary information from Bot Kilat 44 informed that the vessel involved was reported to be half submerged with all crew members still onboard.
“While Bot Kilat 44 was on a routine patrol around the waters of Bintulu at approximately 11.56am, the Maritime asset received an emergency signal via very high frequency (VHF) radio regarding the Bos Azlina vessel that was about to sink,” reads MMEA statement.
The incident was then reported to the Bintulu Maritime Zone Operations Centre (PUSOP) which later alerted the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC) Kuching for further action.
According to a statement from the master, he called a water taxi (Kuda Laut 1) to rescue them.
As it is reported, all the vessel’s crew were safely rescued at around 12.30pm with the help of a water taxi and monitored by Maritime Malaysia.
However, after almost an hour the situation got out of control, as the vessel was fully submerged in the water. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
