Severe Weather Sinks KM Ratna Ningsih, Three Crew Members Missing
The motor vessel KM Ratna Ningsih was involved in a maritime accident in the waters off Balongan, Indramayu Regency, West Java. Bad weather is suspected to be the cause.
According to information gathered, KM Ratna Ningsih met with the accident in the waters off Balongan in the early hours of Thursday (23/7). The 6 Gross Tonne (GT) vessel is suspected to have sunk due to bad weather, namely the impact of high waves combined with excess cargo.
The incident began when KM Ratna Ningsih departed from the fishing base in Majakerta Village at around 03.30 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Thursday (23/7), heading towards the open sea. In addition to carrying 3 crew members, the 6 GT boat was also transporting cargo consisting of 11 drums of oil. The cargo was intended to be supplied to a tanker vessel currently stationed at Single Point Mooring (SPM) 35 Balongan.
However, midway through the journey, at around 05.00 WIB, KM Ratna Ningsih is thought to have been unable to withstand the battering of high waves. Large waves struck the hull directly, causing the vessel to capsize and then sink.
“However, the vessel’s skipper, Warnita, 62, a resident of Majakerta Village, Balongan District, survived,” said the Head of the Maritime Police Unit of the Indramayu Resort Police, AK Asep Suryana, on Friday (24/7).
Crew members missing
However, three crew members remain listed as missing. The three missing crew members are Sarto, 25, Ayo, 28, and Adnan, 28. All are residents of Majakerta Village, Balongan District.
The skipper’s survival came to light after he was evacuated by a member of the Indonesian Navy named Aldi, who was on duty at Island Berth ITB Balongan.
Upon seeing the boat go under, Aldi rushed to carry out a rescue effort. Fortunately, Warnita was wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident, which prevented him from going down with the vessel.
“When he was evacuated by officers, the victim was already wearing a life jacket,” said Asep.
He added that efforts to search for the missing crew members had been carried out. Search operations continued today but had yielded no results as of this evening.
“The search effort on the first day was called off early because of bad weather,” said Asep.
The high waves accompanied by strong winds posed a serious challenge for officers in the field.
The search operation involves a joint team, namely the Indramayu Resort Police Maritime Unit along with personnel from BPBD, Basarnas and the Indonesian Navy.