Thermombang-Ambing 8 Hours, Longboat Passengers Lost In Halmahera Selamat

Illustration of the evacuation of the SAR Team (ANTARA)

TERNATE - The Search and Rescue Office of the Ternate Basarnas, North Malulu through the Tobelo SAR Command Post stated that longboat passengers who lost contact in the waters between East Halmahera and North Halmahera were found safe.

"The longboat was reported missing contact with eight passengers and was finally found safe," said Head of the Ternate SAR Office Iwan Ramdani as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, September 12.

He explained that the initial report was received at 09.57 WIT from the Head of Kupa-kupa Village, Tobelo.

According to the report, two longboat units with 20 passengers departed from Hilaitetor Village, East Halmahera, to Mawea Village, Tobelo Halmahera Utara, on Thursday morning at around 00.00 WIT.

Until the morning, one of the longboats with 10 passengers managed to communicate and continue his journey to Mawea Village. However, another longboat who also brought 10 passengers was reported missing contact.

"After receiving the report, we immediately coordinated with the local village government to confirm the location of the alleged victim's last location," said Iwan.

At 10.10 WIT, the Tobelo SAR Post Rescue Team moved to a location suspected of being the point of lost contact (LKP) using the 03 Tobelo Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). At 11.30 WIT, the joint team arrived at the location and conducted a sweep on the path expected to be traversed.

However, at 15.55 WIT, the Joint SAR Team received information from the Kupa-kupa Village Head that all passengers had been found and evacuated by local fishermen to Kupa-kupa Iga Village, around 12 nautical miles (Nm) north of the LKP.

Following up on the report, the SAR Team moved to Kupa-kupa Village and arrived at 17.25 WIT.

After collecting data, it turned out that the number of victims who were initially reported was only eight people, all of whom were safe and healthy.

"All the victims were found safe. We declare that the SAR operation is complete and all elements involved are returned to their respective units," he said.

The elements involved in the search operation include the Tobelo SAR Post Rescue Team, Polairud Tobelo, Tobelo Navy Post, Kupa-kupa Village Government, and the local community.

One of the victims, Wein Hard, explained that the longboat they were traveling in ran out of fuel in the waters between Hilaitetor Village and Meti Island.

They were then adrift in the sea from 04.00 WIT to around 11.00 WIT or eight hours, before finally being found by fishermen.