The Sinking KM Linggar Petak 89 Not Equipped With Marine Radio, Search For Ship Is Difficult

The SAR team evacuated the victims of the sinking ship from KM Bahari Nusantara by using a rubber boat to KN SAR Arjuna 229 to be then taken to Benoa Harbor, Bali, Thursday (2/3/2023). ANTARA/HO-Basarnas Bali PR

DENPASAR - The Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas) said that KM Linggar Petak 89 which sank in the Indian Ocean, Tuesday (28/2), was not equipped with shipping facilities such as GPS and marine radio communication devices, making it difficult to find victims.

This was revealed by the Head of the Bali Search and Rescue Office (Basarnas) Gede Darmada when picking up six victims who had been evacuated with KN SAR Arjuna 229 on the third day of the search operation.

"We are having communication problems because the fishing boat is not equipped with adequate communication equipment, such as a marine radio communication device, then there is no GPS, no AIS, so it is difficult for us to track this ship," Darmada said as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, 2 March.

Even though according to Darmada, every ship is legally obliged to have shipping equipment such as Marine VHF Radio which functions as an alerting system or warning system to send signals to other ships or SAR teams in a clear and emergency manner, AIS (Automatic Identification System) and also the Global Positioning System (GPS).

However, information regarding the presence or absence of such shipping equipment has not yet been confirmed with the ship owner service company. But what is certain is that the joint SAR team which has been searching for three days has been hampered because it did not detect any signal from the ship.

"We are having a bit of trouble tracking down its position. If a ship follows the rules, of course, we can detect it if it is equipped with GPS or AIS tracking," said Darmada.

Until now, the search for KM Linggar Petak 89, which was hit by storm waves in South Bali, approximately 30-35 Nautical miles away, is still being carried out by deploying three ships namely KM Bahari Nusantara, KM Bahari Nusantara 25, and KN SAR Arjuna 229.

However, said Darmada, KN SAR Arjuna 229 had to return to Benoa Harbor, Bali, Thursday afternoon considering the condition of one of the victims found today really needed intensive care, while two other ships were still searching.

"We were forced to dock this afternoon by moving the victims who were on the ship to provide medical assistance as soon as possible because one person was in a very critical condition," said Darmada.

Apart from that, according to Darmada, the search at night was not effective due to the extreme weather.

Most likely, said Darmada, the victims who had not been found were scattered because according to the captain, 15 people on board each got out of the ship just holding on to the balls of the net without using any life jackets.

"Information from the surviving captains that almost all of those who left the ship did not use safety equipment," said Darmada.

According to Darmada, the search will continue on Friday, March 3 while considering the weather forecast from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The search will also be expanded to 5-100 Nautical miles by involving SAR elements from Surabaya to assist in monitoring and mapping ships crossing the Grojokan and Alas Purwo waters.

As of Thursday (2/3), the joint SAR team had evacuated six of the 15 passengers on board. Of the six people who have been found, one is declared dead, and the other five survived.