The air force, navy and marine police are on a full-scale search for it over 400 square miles of sea.

Photos on a WhatsApp media group show a white boat with a registration number matching that of the missing Catamaran.

It has four rows of seats and standing room on the deck. It’s powered by two 250 horsepower Yamaha engines.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), when contacted, confirmed that the pictures were indeed of the missing boat.

Its communications officer Awil Kamsari told FMT that the tour agency which arranged the boat and the trip is called, Golden Sailing.

“We have contacted the agency and in fact, it was the agency’s representative who filed the missing report.”

When asked how many passengers can fit into the boat, and what was the limit set, Awil said the authorities couldn’t be sure until they find the boat and inspect it themselves.

The boat left from Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, 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 Malaysian navy, maritime police and air force were involved in the search, the MMEA said in a statement this morning.