The Motorboat Transporting 12 NTT Travelers Turned Off, The Engine Was Hit By Waves, It Took 5 Hours To Evacuate

Photo via Antara.

NTT - The motorboat carrying dozens of travelers from Kojadoi Island to Sukun Island experienced engine failure due to a broken core umbrella after being hit by waves in the waters of Pemana Island, Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

"We have received information about the incident. The SAR team from Basarnas Maumere is on their way to the scene to provide assistance to passengers who want to go home to Sukun Island," said Head of the Maumere Class B Search and Rescue Office (SAR) Mexianus Bekabel in Kupang, Tuesday, April 18, as reported by Antara.

His party received information about the incident from one of the passengers of an unnamed ship who was about to go home to Sukun Island, that the ship they were traveling on had an engine failure in the middle between Pemana Island and Sukurn Island, Sikka Regency.

The unnamed ship, he said, departed from Kojadoi Island on Tuesday, April 18 at 05.00 WITA, was boarded by 12 passengers. "While on the voyage at around 08.00 WITA the ship suffered a broken umbrella and caused the engine to shut down so that it could not continue its journey," he said.

The joint SAR Tm from the Maumere Basarnas Office and the potential for SAR in Sikka Regency, he continued, were immediately moved to the scene at around 11.48 WITA.

It took five hours to evacuate 12 travelers who wanted to celebrate Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijri on the island of Sukun.

"We immediately dispatched a joint SAR team to the scene to carry out SAR operations by deploying the 212 Maumere Rescue Boat. We predict that the SAR team will arrive at the scene at around 13.00 WITA," said Mexianus.