Dozens Of Ships Help Search For 11 Missing Crew Members In The Indian Ocean

Two crew members of KM Serba Prima 8 who survived the fire, Nur Hasim and Hari Setiawan (green shirt), arrived at the Cilacap Ocean Fishing Port Pier, Friday (19/5/2023) in the morning. BETWEEN/HO-Satpolair Polresta Cilacap

CILACAP - Dozens of fishing vessels helped search for 11 crew members (ABK) who were reported missing after the Serba Prima 8 Motorboat (KM) they used to search for fish caught fire in the Indian Ocean.

"In addition to being carried out by crew members of the ships that departed in a group with KM Serba Prima 8, the search for 11 crew members from the burning ship was also carried out by other ships looking for fish around the scene," said Head of the All-Indonesian Fishermen Association (HNSI) Cilacap Regency Sarjono as reported by ANTARA, Saturday, May 20.

However, until Saturday (20/5) afternoon, he said, the whereabouts of the 11 crew members from the burning ship were not yet known.

Based on information from ships in the middle of the sea on Saturday (20/5) morning, he continued, one of the ships found two floating objects and allegedly used by KM Serba Prima 8 crew members as a means of shelter.

"The floating object was found hand in hand but there was no one at all," he said.

Therefore, he said, the ships in the same group with KM Serba Prima 8 are currently spreading around the scene to search for the 11 missing crew members.

In accordance with standard operating procedures (SOP), he continued, searches for 11 crew members will be carried out continuously for seven days. "Hopefully they can be found safe soon," said Sarjono.

The fire that hit KM Serba Prima 8 occurred on Tuesday (16/5) at around 23.15 WIB, when the ship was at 8.27 degrees south latitude and 105.19 degrees east longitude or near Christmas Island, Australia.

When they found out about the fire, all crew members tried to extinguish it, but they couldn't because the flames had grown. Therefore, all crew members jumped into the sea by holding a parachute buoy or floating anchor.

When the fire started to appear a bit extinguished on Wednesday (17/5) at around 04.00 WIB, two crew members broke away from their colleagues for taking the initiative to swim after KM Serba Prima 8 and board the ship, while the other crew members were still holding the parachute.

Two crew members, known as Nur Hasim (36) and Hari Setiawan (38), both residents of Pemalang Regency, were rescued by KM Results Always 2 on Wednesday (17/5), at around 11.35 WIB, while passing around the KM Serba Prima 8 carcass on their way back to Cilacap.

KM Hasil Selalu 2 itu tiba di Dermaga PPSC pada hari Jumat (19/5) pukul 02.35 WIB, dan selanjutnya dua ABK KM Serba Prima 8 langsung diserahkan kepada pihak terkait untuk mendapatkan kelongan lebih lanjut.

KM Serba Prima 8 is known to have departed from the Cilacap Ocean Fishing Port Pier (PPSC) on Wednesday (5/4) with 14 crew members including the skipper to fish in the Indian Ocean.

However, a few before experiencing the fire, the captain of KM Serba Prima 8 known as Agus Setiawan had asked the ship owner for permission to go home first because his wife was about to give birth.

Agus also returned to Cilacap by riding another ship that is still one company and is about to return to PPSC Pier, then the wheel of KM Serba Prima 8 was held by the deputy captain on behalf of Teguh Santoso until the fire broke out.