Tugboat Pull Tongkang Into The Natuna Sea Drowning Hit By 4 Meter Waves, 5 Selamat Crew

Illustration. The barge was carrying coal across the Musi River, Palembang, South Sumatra, Thursday, January 3, 2019. (ANTARA-Nova W)a

Basarnas reported that one tugboat unit that pulled the barge sank by four meters of waves in the waters of Melang Jemaja Beach, Anambas Islands Regency, Natuna, Riau Islands (Kepri).

Head of the Natuna Basarnas Office Abdul Rahman said the tugboat named TB Bintan Seroja 88 with the Indonesian flag was manned by five people. Drowning at the coordinate point of 2 deg 58,993'N 105 deg 44,409'E or about one Nautical Mile (NM) from the beach.

"Information was first discovered by the Natuna Search and Rescue Office through the ship on Friday, December 22, 2023 at 06.20 WIB," he said in Natuna, Friday, December 22, which was confiscated by Antara.

Knowing the incident, his party prepared personnel and built coordination to provide assistance.

"The SAR team from the Jemaja SAR Alert Unit was assisted by several potential TNI, Polri, and BPBD, as well as the community arrived at the location at 06.40 WIB and had conducted a sweep along Padang Melang Beach," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Jemaja SAR Alert Unit, Natuna Basarnas, Aulia Patwa Nugraha, said the five crew members were safe and are currently being treated at the nearest health service.

"Two people were missing," he said.

Previously, the tugboat and barge carried back on the jet were not far from the scene, but due to bad weather with a wave height of four meters, the tugboat was forced to pull the barge into the sea because it was feared that it would be destroyed.

However, when he arrived at the scene, the tugboat was hit by waves and drowned, while the barge did not sink.

At the time it capsized, the head of the engine room (KKM) from the ship managed to save himself to the beach and two other people swam over to the barge.

"Tugboat overturned, there were three people in the tugboat, there were the captain, KKM and the chief engineer. Meanwhile, two people were in the barge. When we went to evacuate, it turned out that there were four people in the barge," he said.