KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said yesterday it had found the wreckage of a tanker which sank last week with six crew on board as officials battle to control an oil spill.
The MT Putri Sea went down last Thursday off the southern state of Johor and all six Indonesian crew are missing, feared dead.
In a statement yesterday, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said the four-day search-and-rescue operation for the crew was halted Sunday after efforts to find them failed.
The agency added the operation to contain an oil spill in the area was ongoing, but it is not clear how much oil the 46 metre- long ship was carrying. Malaysian navy chief Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin tweeted that divers had confirmed that the underwater wreckage was the MT Putri Sea.
“Navy divers confirmed it is MT Putri Sea,” he said.
Agency officials dismissed reports there was an explosion on board before it sank, but said they believed there was a fire and investigations were continuing.
The vessel was registered in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. — AFP