Bad Weather, Tug Boat Sinks In Bawean Waters, Three Crewmen Missing

SURABAYA - The tug boat or tugboat Mitra Jaya VIII sank in the southern waters of Bawean Island. Five crew members (ABK) survived, and three others were missing.

"We have deployed ships and helicopters to search for the three missing crew members starting today," Head of the Surabaya SAR Office, Hari Adi Purnomo, confirmed Friday, December 11.

According to Hari, Tug Boat Mitra Jaya VIII sailed and towed Barge SBU 88 loaded with Palm Oil from Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan to Gresik Regency, East Java, on Monday, December 7.

"Information from the crew who survived, when crossing the southern waters of Bawean Island, there was bad weather, until finally the Tug Boat sank," he said.

Hari said the SAR Team had been moving to carry out the search operation since the morning at the point where the three crew members disappeared. In addition to deploying KN SAR 225 Widur, the Surabaya SAR office also used a Dauphin AS365 N + HR 3603 helicopter unit, manned by three people and carrying three rescuers.

"The helicopters flew from the 400 Squadron Juanda Airfield to carry out aerial searches over an area of about 158 miles," he said.

In addition, searches were also carried out by providing information to ships passing around the scene to evacuate if they saw crew members in the middle of the sea. In fact, according to Hari, the Surabaya SAR Team had conducted a search operation on Thursday, December 10, but the operation did not proceed optimally due to unfavorable weather.

"Yesterday the sea waves reached about 3 meters and the wind was blowing at speeds in the range of 15-20 knots," said Hari.