14 missing after 'Amami' capsizes in Banda Sea

Hasrul and Azis Tunny, Kendari/Ambon

Twelve crew members and two passengers of the cargo ship, the Amami, are still missing after it sank on Friday in the Banda Sea off Southeast Sulawesi province.

The ship sank on its way to Piru, Seram island, North Maluku. It had departed from Gresik, East Java.

Rocky Asikin, chief of a local search-and-rescue team in the Southeast Sulawesi capital, Kendari, said on Monday that two other crew members had been rescued by another ship, the Ciremai, when it sailed close to the location of the accident on Saturday.

The two, M. Hadi and Thamrin, were evacuated to Ambon for medical treatment, Rocky told a media conference on Monday.

Meanwhile, in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, M. Hadi, who was being treated at the hospital here on Monday, said that the incident began at 5 a.m., when gale-force winds and strong waves struck the ship. The vessel capsized and sank immediately, said Hadi.

He added that he and a friend, Thamrin, were able to survive the incident and floated in the sea for a day, before they were saved by the Ciremai.

Meanwhile, Rocky said, the team was focusing its search on the rest of the crew and passengers of the Amami, at the location of the accident, between Buru and Wangi-wangi islands. However, Rocky said, the team had not located the Amami, nor its captain, Asriono.

Another official, Anjasmara, was quoted as saying by AFP that the cargo ship -- which had been carrying dozens of tons of flour and sugar -- left from Gresik on July 10, but ran into trouble when bad weather struck early on Friday.

Separately, the Kendari search-and-rescue team, which was on its way to rescue the crew of the Amami, found that another accident had occurred nearby on Monday, Antara reported.

The Kendari team was informed that the ferryboat, Risnawati, located at that time between Wawonii and Moramo islands in Southeast Sulawesi, had sprung a leak and was sinking. The team saved 37 passengers from Risnawati.

On Monday evening, five crew members of Risnawati struggled to prevent it from sinking. The ship had departed from Koro-koro, Wawonii island, at 8 a.m, and was bound for Kendari, but sprang a leak three hours after it had sailed.