Basarnas Ambon Involves Police Patrol Boat in Search for Eight Missing Speedboat Passengers
Ambon (ANTARA) - The Ambon Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas) in Maluku has coordinated the use of Patrol Boat (KP) XVI 2006, belonging to the Maluku Regional Police’s Water and Air Police Directorate (Ditpolairud), to search for eight passengers of a speedboat that sank in the waters off Dai Island, Southwest Maluku Regency (MBD).
Head of the Ambon Basarnas Office, Muhammad Arafah, stated in Ambon on Sunday that coordination with the Saumlaki SAR Post coordinator in the Tanimbar Islands Regency had been carried out to utilise the police patrol boat. A joint team from the Saumlaki SAR Post and Ditpolairud is currently en route to the incident location with an estimated travel time already determined. He noted that this coordination began at 08:00 WIT (Eastern Indonesian Time), allowing the joint SAR team to commence its journey to the site in the waters around Dai Island.
The speedboat, carrying 10 passengers, had originally sailed from Sinairusi Village heading to Tepa in the Babar Islands District (MBD) on Thursday (11/6). Upon reaching the waters near Dai Island, it encountered severe weather with high waves and strong winds, causing it to sink. The incident location is at coordinates 7°39’2.95”S, 129°38’27.61”E, approximately 264 nautical miles heading 160° southeast from BRIN Ambon, according to Google Earth.
Two of the ten passengers, identified as Yakob Anamofa (22) and Ignasius Matrunkoly (42), managed to survive by swimming back to Sinairusi Village and sought help from the community. Initial search efforts were unsuccessful, prompting the Head of the MBD Regency BPBD, Jemmy Lico, to report the maritime accident to Basarnas Ambon.
At 07:20 WIT, the Ambon SAR Office coordinated with Dace Laipeni (Head of West Babar Sub-district) and the Tepa Police Chief. It was reported that the cargo ship KM Teifelin had completed its search and arrived at Tepa Port the previous night at 00:00 WIT with no results. Further coordination with the sub-district head involved plans for a third day of searching by local residents using speedboats and longboats, while monitoring weather conditions around Dai Island. The search was to proceed after refuelling the community speedboats, but the joint SAR team’s efforts today have also been fruitless. Coordination with the Babar Islands Police Chief also confirmed that the cargo ship KM Tiefelin, which had been conducting a search for the victims, had been docked at the pier since Saturday (13/6) night without finding any signs of the missing persons.