Rescue teams find no clues to missing 'Cahaya Bahari'

JAKARTA (JP): Three days after detecting an SOS signal from the Cahaya Bahari, rescue teams have still not been able to detect a single trace of the ferry and on Saturday began looking into alternative possibilities, including hijacking.

National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Setyo Rahardjo in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Saturday said his team was also proceeding to examine all information on the whereabouts of the ferry.

Setyo said his office had been informed that the vessel, which is believed to have been packed with people fleeing communal conflicts in Tobelo on Halmahera island, North Maluku, on Wednesday, had been hijacked.

Without revealing the source of the information, he added that the hostages were reportedly taken to Morotai island in North Maluku.

"We've contacted the Indonesian Navy to check on it," Setyo was quoted by Antara as saying.

The ferry was initially believed to have sunk somewhere in the Sahu waters off the northern tip of Sulawesi, about 42 miles east of Siau island in the Sangihe and Talaud islands regency at about 1 p.m. local time on Thursday when it lost radio contact.

There is conflicting data about the number of people on board, with estimates being put at 492 passengers and crew along with a cargo of copra.

Setyo admitted that earlier on Saturday morning there was a false alarm when a search team spotted a stranded ship on Siau atoll in North Sulawesi, some 80 miles off Manado.

"Later, we found that it was not the ship we were looking for, but another with a similar name, Cahaya Baru," Setyo said.

Waves in the Siau waters reportedly reached three meters high the day the ship left Tobelo seaport. There are small islands spread in the Siau waters where passing ships often take shelter during bad weather.

In its last message, the captain reported that the ferry was taking in water and that the water pumps might be broken.(bby)