The eleven men were recovered by a fishing boat in position 08° 12’N, 115° 46’E about 100nm North West of Kota Kinabalu.
They were found aboard the stolen Hub 18 barge which was found adrift. Highline Shipping, the barge’s owners, is making arrangements to recover it.
Authorities are set to interview the crew to determine what took place and try to determine the whereabouts of the missing tug.
The tug Manyplus 12 and the barge went missing while en route between Sibu and Port Klang in Southern Malaysia.
The two vessels were due to arrive at Port Klang on 13 June, but lost contact just over 6o nm west of Tanjung Datu, Borneo, four days beforehand.
In addition to the crew, which is made up of Indian, Myanmar and Malaysian nationals, the barge’s cargo of 138 containers was also recovered.
