Ten people die in Kendari ship accident
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)