Ten people die in Kendari ship accident

JAKARTA (JP): At least 10 people were found dead while 17 others were still missing on Tuesday after their cargo ship foundered in the Wowoni Strait in Southeast Sulawesi, three days ago.

Ten bodies of both passengers and crew of KM Pangebu were found by the Navy, water police, a Search and Rescue (SAR) team and local fishermen.

As of Tuesday evening, only one man, identified as ship crew member Sudarso, had been found alive, Sgt. Abdul Ma'is, a SAR team member, told The Jakarta Post last night.

"So far, there has been no significant progress in the search, which is still going on," Ma'is said.

Sudarso was still receiving medical treatment at the house of the village chief of Dompo-dompo in Waworete district in Kendari regency.

The Wowoni Strait is located southeast of the capital Kendari.

Captained by Gunawan, whose body is one of those found, the cargo ship, with 22 crew, six Indonesian Maritime Academy (AMI) students of Ujungpandang and 3,000 tons of cement on board, was sailing from the port of Biringkasi, Pangkep regency, South Sulawesi, to Ternate in North Maluku.

The AMI students were to conduct field practice in Maluku.

The ship departed from Biringkasi on May 5 and was due to arrive in Ternate on May 12.

En route, the ship had to reduce speed and reschedule the arrival date due to unfavorable weather conditions.

In the Wowoni Strait on Saturday, big waves repeatedly buffeted the ship.

Passengers and crew on the ship did not have time to release lifeboats due to the rapid sinking of the vessel, Antara quoted Sudarso as saying.

But he said all people on board were wearing life jackets.

Six of the 10 deceased have been identified. They are ship crew members Gunawan, Sutejo, Elias Umar, Wasta Simanungkalit, and AMI students Wahyudin and Djumiati.

The other people, including those still missing, were crew members Mulyono, Teguh Ladianto, Yulianto, Kartubi, Herman Heryanto, Jon Kundyiarto, Undang SK, Imam Gumilar, Sawal Supriyanto, M. Rozak, Didik Supriyadi, Daud Pangelo, Sutiman, Mulyono, Sugi, Juhendi and Hendro, and AMI students Nonobudi, Herivahu and Amir Tirtana.

The SAR team, led by Mawardy Yusuf, head of the Southeast Sulawesi Transportation Ministry office, is combing the strait and nearby Muna Utara and Buton Utara waters for the other bodies.

In a separate incident, Antara reported a boat carrying three people also sank on Sunday at Kendari Bay near the location of the first incident.

Two people, lecturer Arman Kudus of the state Halu-uleo University and a government official of the Southeast Sulawesi Social Ministry office Iskandar Sabara were still missing.

The third passenger, Hadis, managed to survive by swimming to a nearby island. (01)