Yesterday, what was supposed to be a happy fishing trip turned into a nightmare for nine anglers and five boat crew members. The catamaran that they were on suddenly stalled some 11 nautical miles away from Pulau Sulug off Kota Kinabalu.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) received a distress call at 4.10pm and was notified that the vessel had stalled. Nine anglers were then rescued by a tourist boat operated by Sea Quest at around 4.35pm. However, the five crewmembers who were also on board decided to stay back to reportedly fix the engine.

Fearing for the worst, the catamaran owner than called the MMEA again at around 5pm to request some assistance in rescuing the crew members who were drifting further apart by the minute in the rough seas. According to Kota Kinabalu MMEA director, Maritime Commodore Adam Aziz, the KM Memmon was deployed to the seas by 7pm and at approximately 11pm, all five crew members were safely rescued and taken to the Sepanggar base.

The crew members were identified as Rosmayza Omar, 38, Juwal Awang Ahmad, 58, Muhd Azmi Madeus, 29, Shukeur Main and Desiree Richard Maladau, 43.

Due to the wind conditions and high waves of up to 3m high, the catamaran “Fat Cat” could not be towed and has sank as of today.