KM Setia Makmur 06 Drowning In The Arafura Sea, 3 Indonesian Air Force Ships And Aircraft Involved In Search Operations For 15 ABK

The joint SAR team is still working on the 15 crew members of KM Setia Makmur 06 who drowned in the Arafura Sea. (AMONG)

JAYAPURA - The joint SAR team is still searching for 15 crew members (ABK) KM Setia Makmur 06 that sank in the Arafura Sea.

The head of the Merauke SAR, Supriyanto Ridwan, admitted that the search was carried out since 06.00 WIT involving KM Sinar Mas 01, KM Pulau Muara 88, KM Jaya Sejahtera 66 in the Arafuru Sea and Indonesian Air Force aircraft.

"The search area is 1,888 Nm2 and at 10:05 WIT a Boeing B-732/AL-7303 aircraft flew from Timika Airport to conduct an air search around the incident location," he explained when contacted by Antara, Monday, July 4.

The Boeing aircraft arrived at Merauke's Mopah Airport at 11.48 WIT with no search results, at 16.30 WIT, the Merauke Search and Rescue office managed to communicate with KM Sinar Mas 01 and obtained information from the ten survivors on board that several victims suffered minor injuries.

However, according to ABK KM Sinar Mas 01, the injured victims have been treated using drugs available on board.

KM Sinar Mas 01 is still in the vicinity of the incident location and KRI Teluk Wondama-527 moving from Bintuni is expected to arrive Tuesday at around 07.00 WIT and immediately join the joint SAR team to conduct a search.

Until 18.00 WIT the search had not yielded results and the search was temporarily suspended, due to limited visibility and will resume tomorrow Tuesday.

The 10 crew members who survived, namely Rusli (master), Ali Sodikan, Zaini, Dedi Irianto, Hanif, Dian Ardiansyah, Diroh, Mubarok, Agus Priyono, and Subheky.

Meanwhile, the 15 crew members who have not been found are Agus Pujiono, Zamsul Abror, Iqmal Zaky, Abdul Gofar, Karsadi, Mulyana Iksam, Rizky Maulana, Sabari, Arifin, Tarbin, Wahyudi, Wisnu Amrullah, Yulianto, Zainal Abidin, Fahrudin.