14 Fishermen's Ships Sink In Pontianak: 5 Successfully Found By SAR Team, The Other 9 Are In The Search Process

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

PONTIANAK - The Pontianak Search and Rescue (SAR) Office, West Kalimantan, stated that they are still looking for and registering fishermen who lost contact due to bad weather on Tuesday, July 13.

"Temporary data or information that we received was about 14 fishing boats that sank due to bad weather Tuesday night and Wednesday morning", said Head of the Pontianak Search and Rescue (SAR) Office, Yopi Haryadi when contacted, Antara, Thursday, July 15.

He explained that as many as 14 fishing boats (KM) that sank, five have been found and 9 other units are still in the search process. The location of the sinking of the ship occurred in several areas such as the waters of Kubu Raya, Mempawah, Sambas, and others.

Previously, the Pontianak SAR Office had assisted in the search for two fishing motorboats (KM) and crew members who had sunk in different locations due to bad weather since last Tuesday night.

He explained that the unfortunate incident happened to two fishing vessels, namely KM Bersama IV and KM Haidan, each of which sank due to bad weather, while the crew was still in search by the Joint SAR Team.

"This incident (the fishermen's KM drowned) occurred almost simultaneously, namely KM Bersama IV is estimated to have sunk Tuesday night around 21.30 p.m. local time around Tanjung Bayung waters, Sambas Regency, while KM Haidan is estimated to have drowned Wednesday morning at around 02.00 a.m. around Muara Jungkat, Mempawah Regency", he said.

Yopi added that until now his party is still looking for each of the crew of the fishing boat that sank.

"KM Bersama IV sank with three crew on board, while KM Haidan was carrying ten crew members, all of whom are still in our search", he said.

He added that the search for the fishermen's KM crew was also assisted by SAR potential and local fishermen.

"The focus of our current search is to find each of the crew on the two ships, for the search for KM Bersama IV we dispatched a Rescue Team for the Sintete SAR Post, while for KM Haidan a search was carried out by the Rescue Team of the Pontianak SAR Office", he said.

On that occasion, the Head of the Pontianak SAR Office appealed to fishermen or people who use water transportation to pay attention to weather conditions when going down to the sea and also to equip safety aids to anticipate things that are not desirable.