Indonesia said today that three of its nationals who were working as sailors on a Malaysian fishing vessel have been taken hostage by an armed group.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the men were abducted on Saturday in waters off Lahad Datu on the Malaysian part of Borneo, following reports from Malaysia over the weekend.

"Their vessel was ambushed by a speedboat. Five armed men then boarded the vessel and abducted the three while the other four crew were released," Marsudi said.

She added that Malaysian police have confirmed the men were taken to waters around Tawi Tawi in the southern Philippines.

Marsudi said the three men have licences to work in Malaysia and that the boat owner was in contact with the kidnappers through the abducted crew yesterday.

"This new case is totally intolerable and there has to be a serious action taken by either the Malaysian or the Philippine governments.

"The Indonesian government stands ready to cooperate in efforts to release them as soon as possible," she said.

This is the fourth abduction of Indonesian crew in the Sulu and Celebes Seas allegedly by the Abu Sayyaf militant group in the southern Philippines.

Seven Indonesian crew members are still being held hostage since they were kidnapped last month in two separate abductions from the same tugboat in waters around Tawi Tawi.

Fourteen Indonesian sailors who had been kidnapped earlier were released in May.

- dpa