Navy inquiry to find out how warship ‘lost’ gunboat
A naval inquiry to convene in two weeks' time will hear how the KD Paus, a warship tasked to escort the much smaller CB204 gunboat, "lost" the smaller vessel, according to the Royal Malaysian Navy's Region Two Commanding Officer, Rear Admiral Datuk Mohammad Rosland Omar.
The two ships were supposed to sail within a communication range of three to four nautical miles of one another, he said.
“So what happened there (KD Paus losing contact of CB204) will all be looked into during the inquiry.
"What happened, how it happened, why it happened, we all want to know that," Rosland said after welcoming the return of the CB204's crew at the Kota Kinabalu naval base in Sapangar, some 30km outside the city today.
The craft was heading out Layang Layang on Sunday morning when it lost radio contact with KD Paus.
He said depending on the findings of the inquiry, officers, including those who planned the operation, could face the court-martial.
Rosland (pic, right) said all questions on the incident, which nearly resulted in the Navy losing a warship and seven sailors.
Questions have been raised as to how the Navy could have allowed the 16-metre long Swedish-built CB204, with a displacement of 20,000lbs when fully loaded, to set sail into a typhoon-whipped sea.
Recalling the incident, CB204 commander Lt Azri Bakar said the boat lost its escort ship after KD Paus commander ordered both ships to return to port due to high waves.
CB204, according to Azri, was taking water and his men had to use buckets to bail them out.
The rookie commander said the situation worsened, and on top of failing to contact the war ship on his radio, one of the boat's two engines broke down followed by a steering damage.
“We were going round in circles in the turbulent sea. There was no way we could get to Station 5, the naval station we were ordered to go to, with the damaged steering,” he said.
Azri said realising the danger, he ordered the remaining engine to be shut down to allow the boat to drift.
Azri and his seven crew men took turns bailing out water and attempted to repair the engine.
Before drifting away from the shipping lanes, Azri said he was able to contact a passing merchant ship and asked the captain to relay their position to the nearby naval headquarters, an action which led the navy to locate the boat the following day.
Meanwhile, Rosland said there was no storm at Sapangar when the two warships set sail on Sunday.
“It was not even raining here. It was when they were out at sea that the weather turned bad,” he said.
Waiting at the quayside in a drizzle with Rosland were the crew's families and other senior naval oficers.
“My daughter kept asking me if daddy is coming home after she heard his boat had gone missing,” said 29 year-old Nurin Manggie, wife of sailor Ince Evin.
Nurin, from Sri Aman in Sarawak, said when they were informed by the Navy that Sunday evening of the incident, her 7 year-old daughter Sherry Linggi kept asking about her father.
“It kept us at home on the edge. We're all dead sick and worried not knowing what happened to him.
“I was glued to my TV, switching from one news channel to another to get the latest information of the search and rescue.”
Azri's wife, Fazilah Makun, a Navy Lt Commander at the Region 2 naval headquarters, was more calm and composed during the whole episode.
“I was worried when I was informed Azri's boat had been reported missing. I knew the Navy and I was later frequently updated on the search,” she told newsmen.
Still, tears of relief and joy flowed from Fazilah when she saw Azri led his four remaining crew men – two sick crewmen had earlier been airlifted to hospital - off the boat after it berthed. – October 8, 2014.
