Ship Sinks in Mimika Waters, 13 Crew Evacuated Safe

TIMIKA - The Timika Search and Rescue Office (SAR), Central Papua, has confirmed that the 13 crew of the KM Putra Siantan, which sank in the Mimika waters on Monday, January 19, had been found and evacuated in a safe condition.

Head of the Timika SAR Office I Wayan Suyatna in Timika, Tuesday, said the KM Putra Siantan sank in Mimika waters, about 18 nautical miles from the Pomako Port, East Mimika District at around 21.00 WIT.

The ship had an accident while sailing from Dobo Port, Aru Islands to Pomako Timika Port.

"A total of 13 crew members were found to be safe and have been evacuated to Timika. A total of 12 people were found and rescued by the Banjarmasin Navy, which was crossing the shipping lane. Furthermore, we deployed personnel to search for another crew member and were found to be safe," explained Wayan, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 20.

All the crew of the KM Putra Siantan are currently undergoing treatment at two hospitals in Timika, namely the Mimika Regional Hospital and the Lanal Timika health clinic.

"One of the crew members we found is now being treated at the Mimika Regional Hospital, while 12 of his colleagues who were rescued by the KRI Banjarmasin are being treated at the TNI AL health clinic in Timika," he said.

Until now, the SAR Timika party has not been able to determine the cause of the accident of the KM Putra Siantan in Mimika waters on Monday (19/1) evening.

Considering the extreme weather conditions that have frequently occurred recently, the Timika SAR Office continues to coordinate with other agencies to increase preparedness in disaster management.

"We have mapped out which locations are potentially prone to disasters in Mimika by coordinating across sectors. Thankfully, until today everything is still going normally and there have been no notable incidents," said Wayan.

Kasubsie Operations and SAR Standby Timika Charles Y Batlajery said on Tuesday morning his staff sent a joint SAR team, consisting of Timika SAR Rescuer personnel, TNI AL and Pol Airud Timika using RB 217 Timika to search for one missing victim in the Mimika waters.