Catamaran Tragedy: SAR Members Find Two Life Jackets

KOTA KINABALU (Sabah, Malaysia) Feb 3 (Bernama) -- The search team looking for six people missing after a catamaran capsize off Sabah has found two life jackets in the waters of Semarang not far from where the boat had gone down. Lt Cmdr (Maritime) Mohd Fauzi Ab Rahman, heading the Berani maritime vessel in the SAR operation, said one jacket was found on Wednesday afternoon and the other at about 10am Thursday. However, he said, the two life jackets were unrelated to the incident. "According to the report by the Maritime Rescue Sub Coordinator (MRSC), the jackets from the catamaran bear the name of the tour operator but there were no names on the jackets we found," he said to reporters at the Sabah and Labuan Region Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) operations centre here Friday. He said the jackets would be handed over to the police for further investigation. "Whatever we find during the SAR operation has to be reported," he said, adding that one jacket looked old and the other new. Mohd Fauzi said Friday's weather and sea conditions were fine compared to the first day of the operation. The catamaran carrying 28 Chinese tourists and three crew capsized at about 10am last Saturday after being hit by strong winds and high waves, an hour after having left the Tanjung Aru jetty here for Pulau Mengalum, 56km northwest of Kota Kinabalu. Twenty of the tourists and two crew were rescued and three tourists were found dead, leaving five tourists and a crew missing. -- BERNAMA