Palm Oil Carrier Sinks In Muara Sungai Bebatu, This Is An Allegation Of The Cause Of The Accident

TANA TIDUNG - A motorboat (KM) sank in the waters of the Bebatu River estuary, Tana Lia District, Tana Tidung Regency, North Kalimantan (Kaltara) on Tuesday (15/7/2025) at around 01.00 02.00 WITA.

The Commander of the Bebatu Naval Post (AL), Lieutenant Reffli C. Rambing, revealed that KM Mulia Jaya, owned by the company PT Mulia Argo Utama (MAU), sank while sailing to Sesayap by transporting about 12 tons of palm oil.

"At that time the ship was sailing carrying MAU's Sawit fruit, the 17 meter long ship, 3 meters wide, and 4 meters high departed from Connection Village, Tana Lia District, at 18.00 WITA," said Raffli, Tuesday (15/6/2025).

He explained that KM Mulia Jaya was led by Julkifli (43 years) carrying six crew members (ABK), namely Asan Sosilo (30), Samsul (40), Iwan (30), Sabran (30), Bima (21), and Along (23).

"The information is that the sinking ship is thought to have been caused by bad weather at the scene or while sailing, heavy rain and strong winds caused high waves to hit the ship," explained Reffli.

"The weight of the wheel was loose and the alkon engine did not work, so the ship entered the water and finally sank. The coordinates of the sinking of the ship were recorded at 3 deg. 37,070 pieces of N, 117 deg12,733 E," he added.

He said there were no casualties in the incident and the entire crew was reported safe. "The ship and all the contents of the palm were declared missing and suffered material losses," he concluded.