SAR deploys KN Bhisma to search for 13 missing after boat disappears in Tomini Bay

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has deployed the specialised vessel KN SAR Bhisma to search for 13 passengers of a motorboat that lost contact in the waters of Tomini Bay, Tojo Una-Una Regency, Central Sulawesi. “A joint SAR team has been dispatched from Luwuk Port to Tomini Bay to search for the victims,” said Head of the Palu SAR Office, Muh Rizal, in Palu on Saturday. He explained that the KN SAR Bhisma, carrying 13 personnel and supporting SAR equipment, departed from Banggai Regency at 09:40 WITA and is expected to arrive at the search location around 19:40 WITA. Authorities received a report that the 13 passengers departed from the Sanctum Una-Una Dive Resort on Friday, 24 July, heading for Marisa Port in Gorontalo Province. “By 15:00 WITA, the group had not arrived, so the tour guide took the initiative to report the incident to the Gorontalo SAR Office to initiate a search,” he stated. Based on this report, the Palu SAR Office responded by sending a joint team to assist in the search on the second day of the SAR operation. The joint team from Central Sulawesi will join the rescue team that had previously been conducting the operation. “We are dispatching a joint team to assist in the search, consisting of personnel from the Luwuk SAR Post, personnel from the KN SAR Bhisma, and personnel from the Banggai Police Water and Air Unit, carrying communication devices, medical equipment, and evacuation gear,” Rizal said. The 13 missing individuals have been identified as Ferdiansyah (29), Arif (27), Milan Kasik (55), Rani Permentier (30), Mathijs Sercu (29), Jelka Van Driesum (16), Hinke Van Deer (59), Roeland Van Driesum (61), Age Van Driesum (18), Matthias Prange (50), Celine Josette Menguy (52), Hector Fabio Prange (20), and Ronny Josue Prange (13).