Five fishermen have gone missing after their trawler sank 15 nautical miles southeast of Tg Gelang off Pahang at 9am yesterday, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

MMEA Kuantan enforcement chief Abdul Aziz Idrus said today the Malaysian skipper identified as Chuk Luck and the four Thai fishermen had left for sea from the Batu 3 fishermen's jetty in Kuantan on Wednesday.

"However, we only received a report on the incident at 2pm yesterday.

"The MMEA rushed a vessel KM Lang with 24 officers on board to the location within 40 minutes," he told reporters.

He said the search-and-rescue operation also involved the Marine Operations Force and the Malaysian navy vessel, KD Perak.

Abdul Aziz said the trawler was found at about 5pm with only its bow above water, but the fishermen were missing.

He said the mishap occurred at a time when the waves were as high was 3.5 metres and the wind velocity was between 20 and 40 km per hour.

"The search-and-rescue operation will continue until 7pm today and will resume tomorrow morning if the fishermen are not found today," he said.

The boat, 18.12 metres long and 5.7 metres wide, was towed to shore by several other fishing boats.

- Bernama