14 missing after 'Amami' capsizes in Banda Sea
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.