he West Nusa Tenggara Search and Rescue (SAR NTB) rescued the captain and 16 crew members of a boat that caught fire in Gili Trawangan, North Lombok, on Sunday.
SAR NTB head I Nyoman Sidakarya said the fishing boat, KM Putra Bahari Pratama, was ravaged by fire at around 6 p.m. local time in the northern waters of Gili Trawangan.
The captain and his crew — all of whom are fishermen from Indramayu, West Java — jumped into the ocean to escape the blaze, and were quickly picked up by Brazilian-flagged cargo ship MV Let, which was passing the area.
“As soon as they [the fishermen] jumped into the sea, they received help from the crew members of MV Leto, a Brazilian cargo ship sailing from Australia to China,” Nyoman said on Monday.
“The MV Leto crew later informed us about the incident and we started the evacuation immediately.”
Nyoman said the captain of the boat, Sartiman, 42, and 16 crew members, including Tarudi, M Riski, Cipto Ngoko and Fransiskus, have been evacuated to Lembar port, West Lombok.
The search and rescue team also helped the fishermen return home to Karang Song village in Indramayu, West Java.
Sartiman told Nyoman that the boat caught fire at 4 p.m. local time, when flames from its chimney spread onto its wooden roof.
The fishermen tried to put out the flames themselves, but failed. They then jumped into the ocean before the boat started to sink. (nmn/ebf)
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