The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Putrajaya) received a call from a Sapura Construction ship at about 6.45am, reporting a distress signal from Dayang Topaz about 7.7 nautical miles from Kuala Baram.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director-general Mohd Zubil Mat Som said the Sapura Construction ship was mobilised to identify the exact location of the sinking vessel, with 62 crew members still onboard while 124 had abandoned ship, four of which were missing.

He said three ships and one Maritime Malaysia boat in Miri along with seven ships and boats belonging to Petronas and Shell were also mobilised to the location.

“At 9.29am, the four missing crew were found near the scene and they were brought up to the ships involved in this rescue operation,” he said in a statement.

Zubil said based on initial information, it was suspected that one of the Dayang Topaz’s anchors had been cut off due to bad weather conditions, causing the ship to lose control and drift off the platform before crashing into the Baram B oil platform.

He said the Siagut and Siakap maritime ships as well as 23 other boats were monitoring the search and rescue operations there.

He said MRCC Putrajaya was working with Petronas, Shell, the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Fire and Rescue Department, National Search Coordination Centre Brunei and the local fishermen community in the operations.