BUTTERWORTH: A tugboat tethered to a barge with seven Thai men on board sank near the North Butterworth Container Terminal harbour here on Thursday.
In the 3.20pm incident, the Thai-registered barge was being manoeuvred to the wharf by two port tugboats, together with the vessel's own tugboat, Shoyo 18.
Penang Port corporate support division senior general manager Md Derick Basir said as the vessel was being moved, the tethered tugboat began to be fill with water.
"The Shoyo 18 tugboat was tethered to the barge when it began to sink. All seven people on board were rescued by a pilot boat belonging to Penang Port. No injuries were sustained and operations are as usual," he said in a statement today.