MERAUKE - The joint SAR team from Merauke was forced to postpone the evacuation of KM Vivie Rae II which was floating in Arafura waters due to worsening weather.
"It is true that the joint SAR team using KN Merpati, Sunday morning at around 02.00 WIT returned to Merauke navigation pier because upon arrival around Habee Island, weather conditions in the sea were increasingly extreme," said Merauke SAR Chief Supriyanto Ridwan, Antara, Sunday, March 5.
Admittedly, currently KN Merpati is still waiting for the weather to improve to continue SAR operations and another effort is to conduct an e-broadcast on ships passing around KMVivie Rae II's position for help.
The Vivie Rae II ship from Marshall Island, which carried six tourists, has reportedly been adrift in the Arafuru Sea since Thursday after suffering engine failure due to the propeller being wrapped in a rope.
The ship's position is south of Komoran Island about 300 km from Merauke dock.
KM Vivie Rae II, which is a cruise ship with a length of 24 meters and a width of 7 meters, departed from Marshall Island on February 26 to Sorong.
Supriyanto Ridwan added six tourists who were at KM Vivie Rae II, namely Jean Pierre van Wyngaard (South Africa/35 years old), Taylor Marie Loehrer (USA/31 years old), Shahinaz Al Sibahi Alarnaout (United Kingdom/35 years old), J-Dean Shane Van Der Westhuisen (South Africa/31 years old), Matthew Robert Gyorffy (Canada/30 years old), Olivia Di Velice (Canada/31 years old).
"Previously, from monitoring the Merauke BMKG weather forecast, it was stated that light rain with wind speeds reached 50 km/hour and wave heights reached 5 meters," said Supriyanto Ridwan.
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