Six sailors rescued by tuna fishing vessel arrive at Timika

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - KMN Hasil Tuna, a tuna fishing vessel that rescued six sailors of MV Kalimas 4, arrived at Timika, the capital of Mimika district, Papua, on Friday morning, officials said.

MV Kalimas 4 sank in the Asmat estuary waters on December 12, 2021.

"The evacuees are all in good health," head of the National Search and Rescue Agency-Timika Office, Mercy Randang, told ANTARA in a telephonic interview from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province.

The six sailors of the fuel carrier were found drifting in the sea by KMN Hasil Tuna crew members, he said.

Owned by state electricity company PLN, MV (Motor Vessel) Kalimas 4 was entering the Asmat estuary waters with 150 kiloliters of fuel on board on December 12 when it was struck by sea waves reaching four meters in height, Randang informed.

The ship sank after its engine stopped, he said, adding that the evacuees were identified as Ansar (skipper), Ruslan, Supliansyah, Nikmat, Haswan, and Mirzan (crew members).

Several fatal accidents have continued to challenge Indonesia's transportation safety record.

Over the past few years, Indonesia has witnessed a series of fatal accidents. On June 18, 2018, MV Sinar Bangun, which was reportedly carrying 202 passengers onboard, met its watery grave in Lake Toba in North Sumatra province.

Three of the ship's passengers died, 164 others went missing, and only 21 survived, officials said. The tragedy struck at a time when the Indonesian government was making all-out efforts to promote Lake Toba among its 10 "Beyond Bali" destinations.

On August 22, 2019, MV Santika Nusantara was engulfed in flames while sailing on the waters of Masalembu, East Java.

The Surabaya Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency confirmed the successful rescue of 143 passengers from the ill-fated roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessel.

Meanwhile, KM Bandar Nelayan 188, carrying 20 sailors, left Bali's Benoa Port on April 8, 2021 for fishing, but the vessel's engine room reportedly got submerged in the sea waters on May 13, 2021 at 31° 10.70' S 102° 16.32' E coordinates.

The ill-fated fishing ship was detected some 1,520 nautical miles away from Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas)-Bali Office, or some 697 nautical miles away from Perth in Western Australia, officials said.

All sailors survived the accident. The Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Anzac repatriated 19 of the 20 sailors, who were rescued by a Japanese fishing vessel, to Indonesian Navy ship KRI Escolar on May 21, 2021.