The damaged CB204 Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) gunboat, which was reported missing off the Sabah coast early today, will be towed to Kota Kinabalu and is expected to arrive there tomorrow morning.

The Defence Ministry's corporate communications unit said in a statement this afternoon that the seven crew members of the gunboat are now on the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu.

Utusan Malaysia 's online portal reported this evening that a Syper Lynx helicopter has also been despatched to the area to take two of the gunboat's crew to the Kota Kinabalu naval base in Sepanggar for medical treatment.

The gunboat was reported missing following a communications breakdown on Oct 5 and was spotted after the RMN vessel KD Ganas intercepted a distress call yesterday as the gunboat reported a malfunction in its main engine and rudder equipment, 50 nautical miles away, off Pulau Layang-Layang.

Following this, a search-and-rescue operation was mounted and KD Lekiu located the gunboat about 4am today.

The affected gunboat crew members were reported to be safe and sound, but starving for food.