PUTRAJAYA: An Indonesian cargo ship, KM Avatar, with 15 crew members on-board sank in the Straits of Malacca, 11 nautical miles from Tanjung Kling this morning.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director-general Datuk Zulkifili Abu Bakar said 13 crew members have been rescued by MMEA at 10am, however, two more are still missing – the captain and the chef.
“Our command centre in Johor received information of an Indonesian ship sinking from the Marine Department at 9.25 this morning. We immediately despatched our assets and rescued 13 crew members at 10am,” he told reporters at the MMEA headquarters here.
It is believed that the 53-metre long ship sunk due to a leakage, coupled with bad weather.
“We are still investigating the matter and our search and rescue (SAR) operations will continue to locate the two missing persons,” he added.
The Malaysian SAR team comprised 11 crew members from the MMEA station in Linggi, Negri Sembilan departed in a boat and a helicopter.