Heart Disease, Filipino Citizen Crew Evacuated By Banda Aceh Basarnas From The Waters Of The Malacca Strait

The National SAR Agency (Basarnas) team evacuated crew members from the Philippines because they were sick while sailing on a tanker where they worked in Aceh waters.

Head of Banda Aceh Basarnas Ibnu Harris Al Hussain said the crew was a Filipino citizen named Facundo (53). The victim is a crew member of MT Olympic Life, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker.

"The victim was evacuated due to illness after having a heart attack, so it requires further evacuation and medical treatment," said Ibnu Harris in Banda Aceh, Antara, Tuesday, August 26.

He said the evacuation took place in the waters of the Malacca Strait, Aceh Province. Evacuation using the KN Kresna SAR ship departing from Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh City.

Previously, he said, the Banda Aceh Basarnas received information from shipping agents on Monday at around 20.00, which stated that the MT Olympic Life crew was sick and needed medical evacuation. At that time, the ship sailed to Mina Al Fahl, Oman.

"From that information, we coordinated with the ship to determine the coordinates for the evacuation of the victims. The evacuation used the KN Kresna 232 SAR ship on Tuesday (26/8)," said Ibnu Harris Al Hussain.

Furthermore, the KN Kresna ship moved from Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh City, to an evacuation point in the waters of the Malacca Strait. The evacuation point is about 23 nautical miles from Ulee Lheue Port.

Arriving at the agreed point, KN Kresna docked with MT Olympic Life. Subsequently, the evacuation team boarded the tanker and checked the health and immigration documents of the victim. After being declared not carrying infectious diseases, the victim was transferred to KN Kresna.

"Furthermore, the victim was taken to Ulee Lheue Harbor to be evacuated to a hospital in Banda Aceh using an ambulance for further treatment," said Ibnu Harris Al Hussain.

He said the evacuation process involved officers from the Port Health Office, Navy, customs, immigration, harbormasters, shipping agents, and other related parties.

"With the completion of the evacuation of the Filipino crew member, the SAR operation was closed and all personnel were returned to their respective agencies," said Ibnu Harris Al Hussain.