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Vietnamese freighter hits RI boat, three killed, 12 missing
Rescuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have recovered the bodies of three crew members of a capsized Indonesian fishing boat following its collision with Vietnamese-flagged freighter MV Thaison 4 on Saturday
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escuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) have recovered the bodies of three crew members of a capsized Indonesian fishing boat following its collision with Vietnamese-flagged freighter MV Thaison 4 on Saturday.
As of Sunday afternoon, another 12 crew members of the KM Mulya Sejati were still missing. The incident occurred in the Java Sea off Tuban regency in East Java.
The team had found the bodies trapped inside the stern of the overturned boat, Surabaya Basarnas head Muhammad Arifin said on Sunday.
The bodies were found on Sunday after the authorities managed to flip the boat over.
“When two vessels lifted the overturned KM Mulya Sejati, it rocked and released its content trapped inside, including the bodies, which were all brought to the Tuban Regional Hospital,” Arifin told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Separately, Tuban BPBD head Joko Ludiono said the BPBD was assisted by two Indonesian Navy
warships in the search process, as well as by local fishermen combing the shores.
The small KM Mulya Sejati carrying 27 people was reportedly hit by the MV Thaison 4 at around 4 p.m. local time, 53 kilometers off the East Java coastline.
Only 12 crew members, all from Juwana, Pati, Central Java, survived the incident.
According to a survivor, M. Sukri, 28, most of the other crew members had been asleep during the incident.
He recalled that they suddenly felt being hit from behind. The MV Thaison 4 was manned by 22
Vietnamese crew members.
“The strong collision from the rear caused the boat to immediately turn upside down,” said Sukri, who was rescued by another fishing boat and evacuated to Sorbes Harbor in Lamongan regency.
The search, according to Arifin, will continue for another seven days.
If conditions allow and more bodies are found, the search will be continued for up to three more days.
The MV Thaison 4, which reportedly rammed the KM Mulya Sejati from the rear, was currently under supervision of Tanjung Perak Port authorities in Surabaya for an investigation, Arifin said, refusing to disclose the exact cause of the collision.
Accidents at sea are common in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country. The most recent fatal boat accident took place near Batam, Riau Islands, earlier this month, when 54 people were confirmed dead while six went missing.
