Navy craft sinks after hitting underwater object off Pengerang

A navy fast attack craft that was flooded after hitting an underwater object at about noon fully sank in the South China Sea off Pengerang, Johor.

In an updated statement released at 8pm, navy headquarters said the Handalan-class KD Pendekar sank at 3.45pm about two nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Penyusup.

The navy is continuing its operation to salvage the vessel, it added.

Earlier, it was reported that KD Pendekar was partially sunk after a leak in the engine room caused flooding.

The leak is believed to have happened when the ship accidentally hit an underwater object while sailing.

"Leakage detected at the ship's engine room had caused flooding that went beyond control.

"After all efforts to control the leak and stabilising the ship were futile, all crew members (abandoned the ship) were saved.

"Our main focus now is to carry out an operation to salvage the ship," it said.

Crew safe, sent to base

KD Pendekar was carrying 39 crew members during the incident.

All crew members were safely evacuated and taken to the KD Sultan Ismail navy base in Tanjung Pengelih.

The navy will be forming an inquiry board to investigate the cause of the incident.

It also thanked all agencies involved in assisting KD Pendekar crew members, including the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, police and maritime community members in the surrounding area.

According to the navy’s website, KD Pendekar was built in Sweden before it was commissioned by the navy on July 27, 1979.

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