JOHOR BAHRU, May 3 — The search area for three missing crew members of oil tanker MT Pablo, which caught fire on Monday (May 1), has been expanded to seven sectors covering a total of 371 nautical square miles.
Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the search mission involved an AW139 helicopter along with two Malaysian Maritime patrol boats, two ships and a boat belonging to the Royal Malaysian Navy, a Marine Police Force patrol boat and two ships of the Malaysian Marine Department.
"The Hazardous Material (Hazmat) unit of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) and members of the Marine Department have assessed the safety level of the MT Pablo using the AW139 aircraft and found that it was still unsafe to board," he said in a statement today.
The three crew involved were identified as Indian nationals Satyam Tripathi, 26, and Dinesh Kumar Chauhan, 34; and Ukrainian national, Sabit Shenderovskyi, 37.
The tanker MT Pablo registered in Gabon, Africa caught fire about 37.5 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Sedili, Kota Tinggi on May 1.
— Bernama
