Malaysian police are investigating the deaths of three suspected stowaways whose bodies were found in a container on board a ship heading for China, local media reported today.

The Danish-registered "Arnold," with 31 crew, left Morocco on May 2 carrying 4,000 containers and four legal passengers, police spokesman Abdul Rahim Jaafar told the Bernama news agency.

While at sea the captain ordered a search of the ship after the crew complained of an unbearable stench.

The bodies were found after a 24-hour search, and the ship docked Sunday at the nearest port, Malaysia's Tanjung Pelepas, to lodge a police report.

"Our initial investigation showed that the dead were three dark-skinned males with curly hair," Abdul Rahim said.

Cause of death unknown

The discovery of food and clothing alongside the bodies suggested the three could have planned to sneak into an unknown country, he said. No identification documents were found.

"The cause of death has yet to be established, pending the post-mortem (examination)," he said.

"If the post-mortem shows foul play, then we would need to establish when and where the men died. And should that happen (to be) in our waters, we would call the captain for questioning. If elsewhere, we would seek Interpols assistance."

Abdul Rahim said the vessel had been allowed to continue on its voyage because police had no reason to hold it or to detain its crew.