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Two dozen Chinese nationals drowned in boat accident
Dozens of Chinese nationals are still missing from the Dolpin, a boat that sunk at Aru waters, Maluku
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Dozens of Chinese nationals are still missing from the Dolpin, a boat that sunk at Aru waters, Maluku.
As many as 24 Chinese nationals were on board of the boat along with another 10 local passengers.
Eight have so far been plucked from the sea with only one survivor.
Two police officers from local polce station are among those missing.
The boat was reported on Monday to have set out on Wednesday from Dobo port in Aru Islands to Tual in Southeast Maluku.
As the boat failed to reach the destination as scheduled, the port authorities began searching on Friday.
Six of the seven victims were Chinese while the sole survivor has been identified as Kai Kaishen, also a Chinese citizen.
Kaishen was found alive by local residents at around 8 p.m. local time on Friday near the coast of Waiko hamlet.
Aru Islands Transportation Office head Jimmy Angrek told The Jakarta Post the ship did not heed a warning issued by the Maluku Meteorology and Geophysical Agency about the possible rough seas.
It was also operating without consent from the Dobo harbor authorities, he said.
“Because of the expected storm, the Dobo port authorities had refused to issue a permit. But it still departed,” said Angrek by phone.
He added the 24 Chinese citizens worked for the PT Arabika Tama Khatulistiwa fishery company operating on Warbal Island in Central Aru district.
Angrek said the ill-fated Dolpin, which measured 15-by-2.6 meters, was already old and unworthy of plying the Dobo-Tual route, especially during bad weather and without a permit from the local port authorities.
Aru Islands Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Solihin said the search mission would be carried out for a week.
The Chinese victims had initially planned to go to Tual and later proceed to Ambon to arrange their immigration documents as their passports were about to expire.
Solihin said the search mission was hampered by high waves in the Aru Sea, reaching up to 5 meters high, wind velocity of 60 kilometers per hour and heavy rain.
Solihin added two police officers, Aru Islands Police operational chief Adj. Comr. Edwin Situmorang and Southeast Maluku Port Police’ Private Second Class Fadel Baharuddin, were on board the ill-fated ferry.
Another boat, KM Binama, was also reported to have sunk in the Aru Sea on Friday.
Only eight of its crew members survived the accident, after being plucked to safety by fisherman around the area, while 10 others were feared missing.
The boats were the latest victims of the rough seas across Indonesia.
Recently, the Dumai Express, with 255 passengers on board, capsized in Batam leaving 32 dead.
