Basarnas Ternate Evacuation 231 Passengers KM Aksar Saputra Who Experienced Steering Damage

The SAR team for the evacuation of KM Aksar Saputra 07 carried 231 passengers and crew members suffered damage at the wheel while sailing on the route to Kupal Port, South Halmahera Regency (ANTARA).

TERNATE The Ternate Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas), North Maluku, managed to evacuate 231 people, including passengers and crew members (ABK) KM Aksar Saputra 07, who suffered steering damage while sailing from Kupal Harbor, South Halmahera Regency, to Bastiong Port, Ternate City.

The head of the Ternate Basarnas, Fathur Rahman, said that reports of damage to KM Aksar Saputra 07 were received from ship agents. After receiving the report, Basarnas immediately coordinated with relevant agencies to carry out SAR operations and the evacuation process.

"Based on the manifest, the total number of victims was 231 people, consisting of 211 passengers and 20 crew members," explained Fathur, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, December 8.

The incident began on December 7, 2024, at around 21.00 WIT, when KM Aksar Saputra 07 sailed from Kupal Bacan Harbor to Ahmad Yani Ternate Port. However, at 22.00 WIT, the ship suffered steering damage and crashed into an island in the waters of South Halmahera. Ship agents immediately reported the incident to the South Halmahera SAR Alert Unit (USS) to ask for help.

The joint SAR team led by the Ternate Basarnas immediately moved to the scene using the Rescue Boat (RB) 309. They also received support from KM Sandra Jaya 02 who was sailing from Ternate to Kupal Bacan.

On Sunday morning, at 03.56 WIT, RB 309 arrived at the scene and checked the condition of the passengers while collecting manifest data. Moments later, KM Sandra Jaya 02 arrived at the location to help pull KM Aksar Saputra 07 to the nearest port.

"At 04.38 WIT, KM Sandra Jaya 02 started the process of pulling the ship to the Port of Kupal Bacan. During the trip, Rescue Boat 309 provided assistance until all the victims were successfully evacuated," said Fathur.

At 07.30 WIT, the damaged ship managed to dock at the Port of Kupal Bacan. All passengers and crew members are safe and have been handed over to their respective families.

Fathur Rahman emphasized that the success of the SAR operation was due to the rapid coordination between Basarnas, ship agents, and other related parties. "We urge ship operators to pay more attention to the ship's technical condition before sailing to avoid similar incidents in the future," he concluded.