Officials Rescue Six Passengers After Engine Failure on Vessel Near Pulau Pari

Jakarta – Officials evacuated six passengers from KM Sinar Kencana Muara, a vessel that suddenly lost its engine and took on water while near Pulau Tikus, in the waters of Pulau Pari, Pulau Pari Sub-district, Kepulauan Seribu Regency, on Sunday.

‘After receiving the report we immediately evacuated the passengers to the nearest land,’ said Gatot Sulaeman, Head of Operations (Kasiops) of the Jakarta Suku Dinas Fire and Rescue Service (Gulkarmat) for North Jakarta and Kepulauan Seribu, in Jakarta.

He said the incident, in which the vessel’s engine suddenly died and water entered the vessel, occurred around 07:58 WIB. Four Gulkarmat personnel in a boat headed to the location.

‘We carried out the evacuation at 08:25 WIB and all passengers were evacuated by 08:45 WIB,’ he said.

Based on witnesses’ statements, the vessel hull KM Sinar Kencana Muara departed from Muara Kronjo, Tangerang (Banten) en route to Pulau Kelapa.

On the way, it rained, with large waves and the vessel being overloaded, which caused water to enter the vessel and the engine to fail.

He said the vessel pitched and rolled for about 30 minutes around Pulau Tikus before the passengers contacted the Pulau Pari fire department officers.

Then a Gulkarmat boat departed from Pulau Pari toward the drifting vessel in the open sea. ‘Alhamdulillah we managed to evacuate the passengers to the nearest island, Pulau Pari,’ he said.