Basarnas Evacuates 12 Passengers Of The Ship Engine Dead In Wakatobi Waters

KENDARI - The Kendari Basarnas evacuated 12 ship passengers who were reported to have died when they were about to sail from Kaledupa Port, Wakatobi Regency to Kendari Harbor, Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi.

The head of the Kendari Basarnas Aris Sofingi said that his party received information from one of the victims' families that there was a ship KM Taman Wisata GT 109 that was about to sail from Kaledupa to Kendari City but experienced an engine failure in Wanci waters.

"At 17:45 WITA, we received information from Mr. Efendi, the family of one of the victims, who reported that at 15:20 WITA there had been a shipwreck, namely KM Taman Wisata GT 109 with POB 19 people experiencing engine failure around Wanci waters, Wakatobi," he said, quoted by Antara. , Thursday, March 24.

After receiving the report, at 18:05 WITA, the Wakatobi SAR Post Rescue Team departed for the ship's final location by using a rubber boat to provide SAR assistance.

The KM Taman Wisata ship was reported to be departing from Kaledupa, Wakatobi Regency to Kendari City at around 14.00 WITA. However, at 15:20 WITA, on its way around Wanci waters, the ship encountered engine problems.

"Where the gearbox oil pump hose broke and leaked, the crew tried to fix it but to no avail," he said.

Some passengers panicked so one of the crew members contacted the ship owner to contact Basarnas to evacuate the passengers.

KM Taman Wisata GT 109 contains 19 people with details of six crew members, one ship captain and 12 passengers. The captain of the Labua ship (50), while the crew members are Irwan (43), Darman (32), Suhardin (47), Harsiwanuddin (33), Ali Hasi (28) and Abu (26).

While the 12 passengers with details of six men namely Masuri (35), Lakabe (48), La Ani (25), Hasmnto (37), La Aru (23) and Sabir (29), and six women namely Ajida ( 42), Wa Sonia (29), Nuriati (36), Arafida (20), Russiati (33) and Ariani (34).

Aris said the rescue team managed to find the KM Taman Wisata ship at around 19.01 WITA about 2.87 nautical miles from the ship's last location due to an engine failure.

"12 passengers and one crew member on behalf of Harsiwanuddin were evacuated to Marina Wanci Harbor and arrived at 20.25 WITA," said Aris.

The evacuation of 12 passengers and one crew member of KM Taman Wisata GT 109 also involved personnel from the Wakatobi Navy Post, Polair Wakatobi and Syahbandar Wanci.

Meanwhile, five crew members and the ship's captain chose to stay on the ship while waiting for help from the ship's owner who would come with replacements for the damaged equipment.

"With the arrival of 12 passengers and one crew member at Marina Wanci Harbor safely, the SAR operation on KM Taman Wisata GT 109 is declared complete and closed, all elements involved are returned to their respective units," said Aris.