Prime Minister Najib Razak has tweeted: “Search and rescue operation has been launched, and will monitor the development.”
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman said he has ordered the national agencies involved in the search and rescue mission to also use spotter planes to improve the chances of finding the boat and the 31 people on it.
“The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has mobilised the necessary vessels, equipment and manpower for the search and rescue mission.
“I am told that the MMEA, the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Marine Operations Force have mounted an operation involving some 400 square miles,” he said in a statement issued this afternoon.
Musa also took the boat operators to task, saying they should exercise “greater caution when taking out people to sea”, especially when the weather conditions were rough.
But he assured that the authorities are doing their best to make sure the 28 Chinese tourists and three crew on board the boat would be found as soon as possible.
“I know this is a difficult time for the families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them,” he said.
The boat left Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu for Pulau Mengalum at 9am yesterday, the first day of Chinese New Year, and it was reported missing when it didn’t arrive even 12 hours later.
The Chinese official news agency, Xinhua, had reported that while the cause of the disappearance has yet to be determined, an official from the Chinese consulate it spoke to, said there were stormy waters on Saturday.
A China news service has reported that China’s national tourism authority has directed its Singapore office to start its own search for the missing boat.