According to shipping records, the five crewmen boarded the tugboat at 8am in Sandakan on 17 July enroute to Semporna.
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He told a press conference that investigations are still underway and until now, police as well as the owner of the tugboat have not received any call from the men or any other party.
The five missing Malaysian sailors were identified as Abdul Rahim Summas, 62; Tayudin Anjut, 45; Fandy Bakran, 26; Mohamad Jumadil Rahim, 23; all from Tawau, while Mohd Ridzuan Ismail, 32, is from Pahang.
Sabah Police Commissioner Abdul Rashid Harun on Tuesday said he could not confirm the whereabouts of the five men, but did not rule out the possibility of an abduction.
It is learnt that the authorities are investigating the fate of five local crew members who were believed to be on the boat.
An empty tugboat but with the engine still running was found abandoned this morning in the waters of Dent Haven, Tambisan, Lahad Datu.
“Marine police were deployed to the scene”.
Abdul Rashid said the tugboat is owned by a Tawau-based Malaysian company. “The boat was towing a barge”, he said, adding that the crew were scheduled to arrive in Semporna at 5pm the next day.
“The MPF later found the tugboat and the barge with the engine still running”.
On July 9, heavily armed kidnappers stormed a fishing trawler at 11.40pm during curfew hours and captured three Indonesians.
Kidnappings have plagued the Sabah east coast waters of late, with gangs from the southern Philippines targeting slow-moving vessels to kidnap victims.
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Last month, four Sarawakian sailors of a tugboat – brothers Wong Teck Pang, 31, and Wong Teck Chi, 29, their cousin, Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21, and a fourth sailor Wong Hung Sing, 34, – were released on June 8 after being kidnapped at sea by gunmen on April 1.
