Had Reportedly Missing, The Ebenheizer Ship Transporting 11 Passengers In West Halmahera Turned Out To Be Hiding On The Island

Illustration - An island in the Thousand Islands area, DKI Jakarta (ANTARA/M Riezko Bima Elko Prasetyo)

The Search and Rescue Team (SAR) said the ship, which was reported to have lost contact while sailing in West Halmahera waters, North Maluku (Malut), turned out to be sheltering on an island to avoid extreme weather. Head of the Ternate SAR Office Fathur Rahman said a ship called Ebenheizer carried 11 people from Tobaol Port, Mrs. West Halmahera, to Mayau Village, Batang Dua Island. SAR officers receive complaints from the passenger's family if the ship does not arrive until Tuesday, June 25 evening, or more than eight hours after lifting the anchor. Moments after receiving the report, a KN SAR 237 Pandudewanata ship was deployed to carry out a search operation to the last location as reported by the family. In the middle of the search process, until Wednesday night the SAR team received information from Indonesian Navy personnel in Mayau that the Ebenheizer ship and all its passengers had arrived safely. "To SAR KN personnel, Ebenheizer ship drivers admitted that they faced extreme weather while sailing, so they decided to take cover, while waiting for the weather to improve and bind the ship to the chromon around the waters of North Maluku," explained Fathur in a statement received in Bandung, West Java, Antara, Thursday, June 27. This condition made them lose contact and arrived late to Batang Dua Island.

All crew until the ship's passengers are confirmed safe and have returned to their families. The SAR team closed the search operation.