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View all search resultsThree dead, five missing as fishing boat catches fire in Malacca Strait
Three fishermen died in the accident while 13 others were picked up by the KM Mandiri, which was fishing nearby when the fire broke out.
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Crew members rescued from a burning fishing boat arrive at Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, on April 7, 2026. The fire left three fishermen dead and five missing, while 13 others were rescued by a nearby fishing vessel. (Courtesy of Kodaeral I/-)
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escuers are still searching for five fishermen who went missing after their boat the KM Sumber Indah II, which had 21 people on board, caught fire while fishing in the Malacca Strait in the early hours of Tuesday.
Three fishermen died in the accident while 13 others were picked up by the KM Mandiri, which was fishing nearby when the fire broke out.
Navy Regional Command (Kodaeral) I chief spokesman Col. Wahyu Kurniawan identified the three dead fishermen as Iyan, Jahar and Buitin.
The Navy and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) are still looking for the missing fishermen, identified as Aris, Roy, Lubis, Ambon and an unidentified man.
“We are still searching for the missing fishermen,” Wahyu said on Wednesday.
The Sumber Indah III, skippered by Aisu, departed from Belawan Port on Monday afternoon and headed eastward. After sailing some 25.75 kilometers from the port, the boat stopped and the crew deployed the trawl to catch anchovies.
Several hours later, the crew took a break.
Read also: Rescuers find Spanish tourist's body, one week after boat accident
At about 2 a.m., an explosion was heard from the engine room, believed to be in the main turbo, and a fire spread to the rest of the vessel.
Wahyu said before the boat caught fire, a member of the crew identified as Aliman noticed that the ship’s engine was overheating. Aliman tried to alert his crew mates but before he could do so there were several explosions in the engine room.
“The first explosion was from the overheated engine and followed by a second explosion from a 12-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas canister that was stored near the engine," he said.
“The explosions caused the ship to catch fire.”
The crew jumped overboard to escape the fire. About 30 minutes later, the Mandiri scooped 13 of them to safety. Two of them suffered from light burns, while three others were found dead.
The Mandiri brought the survivors and the three bodies to Belawan Port, arriving at about 8 a.m.
Meanwhile, the head of the North Sumatra Water and Air Police’s (Polairud) law enforcement subdirectorate, Adj. Sr. Comr. Hendri Barus, said the wreckage of the Sumber Indah II was being towed from the accident location to Belawan Port.
He said the police were still investigating the cause of the fatal fire.
“We are still investigating the case and currently we are interviewing the surviving fishermen,” he said.
Read also: Eight dead in Bengkulu boat accident
On Nov. 13, 2025, a fishing boat docked at the Gabion fishing port in Belawan caught fire. It took six trucks from the Medan Fire and Rescue Agency four hours to get the blaze under control.
“It was difficult to put the fire out because the fuel tank was fully loaded,” agency head Wandro Malau said, as quoted by jawapos.com.
“So, we had to deluge the lower part of the vessel to prevent it from exploding, which made it more difficult to extinguish the fire.” (nvn)
