Malaysian Navy Combat Vessel Missing In Sabah Waters

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- A combat vessel of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with a crew of seven lost contact with an escort vessel as it headed to an RMN station on Layang-Layang atoll off Sabah, according to the RMN.

The CB90 type of combat vessel, assigned to operate from RMN Station Five on the atoll, lost communication with the escort vessel KD Paus during the voyage, said Chief of Navy Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

He said in a statement that the vessel, CB204, accompanied by KD Paus, left the RMN base in Kota Kinabalu at 5 am on Sunday and lost radio communication with the escort vessel at 11.15 am.

"The incident occurred during bad weather around Pulau Mengalum," he said.

Abdul Aziz said a search operation had been mounted by RMN assets, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

The crew of seven personnel on board the missing vessel was headed by Lt Azri Bakar, he said.