Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Pang Yuk Ming said the Sabah government had ruled that catamarans could carry a maximum of 12 people, including the crew and skipper.

“A catamaran has a capacity of more than 30 passengers. However, the Sabah government limits the number of passengers for tourism purposes,” he told reporters at the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Sabah, and Labuan headquarters here today.

Catamarans registered outside Sabah can carry more than 30 passengers.

Pang said Jesselton Point and not Tanjung Aru Jetty is the normal jetty used by boats to reach tourist resorts on islands on the west coast of Sabah.

The operator’s decision to switch to Tanjung Aru Jetty could be due to high passenger traffic at Jessselton Point due to the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Meanwhile, China’s Consul General in Sabah Chen Peijie said that the country’s leadership took a serious view of the incident, which received wide coverage in China.

The diplomat said family members in China can contact China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 12308 for more information on their family members.

The catamaran sank en route from Tanjung Aru Jetty to Pulau Mengalum, 56 km northwest of Kota Kinabalu yesterday.

The MMEA said the catamaran carrying 31 people, including 28 tourists from China, left Tanjung Aru Jetty at 9am.