KOTA KINABALU, Jan 30 — Police have arrested the boat owner today in connection to the catamaran accident off Kota Kinabalu that killed at least three foreign tourists recently, in addition to the skipper and boat man earlier.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Ramli Din said that the 44-year-old local ethnic Chinese manager and owner of the boat was arrested in the city this afternoon under Section 304A of the Penal Code for causing death due to negligence.

"The skipper and the boat man were arrested yesterday and are being remanded for four days. The boat owner will be remanded tomorrow,” he said at a press conference here today.

When asked to elaborate on the investigation, Ramli said they will be looking at several angles as to the boat’s operations, from safety procedures to legal issues.

"We will leave no stone unturned and will look at every angle... Whether the boat has followed the procedures to take tourists, whether they were given safety attire, whether the jetty they used was legal, whether the passenger load was accurate, how long they have been in business, and others.”

Ramli said early information showed that there was a possibility that not all procedures and requirements were followed or met, hence the arrests.

"We are also looking into why they lodged report so late. We could’ve started search and rescue operations much sooner but was informed late,” he said.

The boat carrying 27 tourists and three crew men left a jetty in Tanjung Aru at about 9am and was due to arrive at Mengalum island, some two hours away but hit bad weather some eight nautical miles before its destination.

The owner reportedly only informed authorities at about 9.50pm.

It was also earlier stated that the boat had taken 28 tourists on board, but Ramli later revealed that one of the tourists had refused to take the excursion upon discovering how many people were on board.

Search and rescue operations are now searching for five missing people: four Chinese tourists — Sheng Jiang Jiang( male, 50), Dong Mei, (female, no age given), Luo Hong Yuan (male, 51) Lu Gua Hang (male, 25) — and one local boat man Abhsoy Kassim, 25.