"We have been in intensive contact with the South Korean security forces. Then the South Korean search and rescue team, [and] the Indonesian Embassy in South Korea," Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding said in Jakarta on Friday, as quoted by the Antara news agency.

“We have also contacted the families.”

As of now, there has been no update on the whereabouts of the two Indonesians who were part of the Geumseong 135 crew. The vessel carried 27 crew members, consisting of 16 South Koreans and 11 Indonesians.

The search operation, which began immediately after the incident, has so far resulted in the rescue of 15 crew members.

Tragically, two rescued South Korean crew members had cardiac arrests and were later pronounced dead. Two other South Korean crew members were found dead in the following days.

As of now, eight South Korean and two Indonesian crew members remain missing.

In November, Abdul Kadir acknowledged that the two missing Indonesian nationals were not registered with the Migrant Workers Protection Ministry.

This means they may have been working illegally.

"Yes, according to our side, they [the victims] are indeed not registered with our ministry. But we will make sure we take care of it. We will ensure that everything will be handled even though they did not depart from our [official channels],” said Abdul Kadir in Jakarta on Nov. 15, as quoted by detik.com. 

“I also checked with the Transportation Ministry; it doesn't seem like they were [legal workers]. So, they indeed departed independently. This is the result, so it is difficult, if they are not registered, it is difficult. This is just one example.”