KOTA KINABALU: A search and rescue operation is under way for three crew members of a tugboat that was believed to have capsized about 35 nautical miles north-west of Pulau Mantanani off Sabah's west coast.

       Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sabah and Labuan director Admiral Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdullah said the three missing crew members were identified as locals Lim Chung Siong, 24, Wilson Paul Joseph, 31, and Yee Lih Min, 22.

       He said search and rescue operations were activated at 11pm Sunday (May 22) after the owner of the tugboat Megah Jaya 2 reported to police that the tugboat and its crew were missing at about 9.30am Saturday.

       "It is suspected to have sunk north-west of Pulau Mantanani," he said in a statement on Monday (May 23).

       He said MMEA sent patrol boat KM Bistari to the last known location of the boat to monitor and conduct an initial search.

       He said the search and rescue also involved the marine police.

       "We have divided the search into three sectors covering an area of 176 nautical miles," he added.

       He urged anyone in the maritime community who has any information on the incident to contact Sabah Maritime Operations Centre 088-387774.