Makassar SAR Evacuates Vietnamese Crew Member with Acute Illness at Sea

The Class A Makassar Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) office evacuated a foreign crew member named Nguyen (24) from the MV Movena after he was struck by an acute illness in the waters off Kalukuang, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi. “We received a report that a crew member of the MV Movena was suffering from abdominal pain and required an emergency medical evacuation at sea,” said Andi Sultan, Head of Operations Section at the Makassar Basarnas Office, on Sunday. The emergency information was received by Basarnas from Rachel, the ship’s correspondent. Rachel reported that the Vietnamese crew member was experiencing severe abdominal pain and a high fever whilst the vessel was sailing en route from Japan to Australia. The Makassar Basarnas Rescue Team was immediately deployed to carry out the evacuation on Saturday evening (20/6). The evacuation process was successfully completed safely in the early hours of Sunday (21/6). The casualty was transferred from the MV Movena to the deck of the State Vessel (KN) Kamajaya for initial medical assistance, before preparations were made to head ashore for hospitalisation. The medical evacuation operation was completed smoothly thanks to the cooperation of a joint SAR team from Makassar Basarnas, the crew of KN SAR Kamajaya, the Water and Air Police (Polairud), the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL), the Makassar Port Health Office (KKP), and the ship’s agent.