KUALA LUMPUR: Seven Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) officers are believed to be lost at sea after their CB90H attack boat lost contact with naval authorities in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
The boat went missing in Sabah waters somewhere between Kota Kinabalu and Labuan at around 1.05pm.
According to sources, three ships - the KD Lekiu, KD Serang, KD Paus -have been deployed from the Kota Kinabalu naval base on a search-and-rescue mission for the vessel and its personnel.
Air assets from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency have also been roped in to help with the search near Pulau Mangalum and Pulau Gaya.
However, two of the search ships were recalled after two hours due to bad weather.
Authorities believe the missing vessel, carrying the CB204 registration number, may have lost contact with the base after being hit by strong waves.
Its last known position was some 20 nautical miles northeast of Pulau Mangalum.
By ROY GOH, KALBANA PERIMBANAYAGAM and ROZANNA LATIFF