Fishing Boat From Cilacap Burns In The Indian Ocean, 11 Crew Members Are In Search

Fishing boat that caught fire in the Indian Ocean/ Photo: Doc. Central Java Police

The KM Serba Prima 8 GT 59 ship caught fire in the Indian Ocean, 2 crew members (ABK) were found safe, while the other 11 crew members are still being searched.

Cilacap Police Chief Kombes Fannky Ani Sugiharto explained that with this incident the Cilacap Police Sat Polairud had coordinated with relevant stakeholders such as Lanal Cilacap, Central Basarnas, Banten Basarnas and Bandung Basarnas.

Cilacap Police Chief Kombes Pol Fannky Ani Sugiharto through the Head of Airud Polresta Cilacap AKP Huda Syafii, explained that the incident began when the ship departed from the PPSC dock on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 to look for fish. However, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at around 23.15 WIB, the ship caught fire in the upper exhaust while all crew members were asleep.

"The crew members found out that their ship caught fire when the fire had started to spread, all the crew tried to extinguish the fire, but they couldn't. So the crew jumped into the sea by holding the parachute buoy", Huda said in a written statement.

Huda explained that according to information from 2 crew members who survived at around 04.00 WIB when the fire began to extinguish. The two victims Nur Hasim and Hari Setiawan broke away from other crew members to chase the ship, while the other 11 crew members were staying with the condition still holding the parachute.

"The two survivors were found on board the ship on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at around 11.35 WIB by the KM Results 2 ship that passed around the Serba Prima 8 ship that had caught fire. Meanwhile, the captain before the incident had permission to go home to wait for his wife to give birth, while the other 11 crew members had not been found and were still being searched," he said.

Until this news was made, 11 crew members who had not been found were still searching by Polairud Polresta Cilacap with the help of radio contact to ships sailing around the incident to help search and rescue crew members.

"The crew who have not been found and are still in search of related parties and according to data from the owner of the ship that caught fire to eleven crew members, namely Andri Budi Nugroho, Arifudin, Dimas Andi, Dodi Irawan, Masiman, Prima ayatuloh, SelAMEt Mas dedi, Sutikno, Suwandi, tegas Santoso, Wamoto," said the Huda.