MV Boat Patimban-Belawan Route Sinks in Bangka Strait Waters

TEMPO.CO, Pangkalpinang - The MV Serasi I ship, serving the route of Patimban Port in Subang, West Java, and Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, sank in the waters of the Bangka Strait, South Bangka Regency, in the early hours of Thursday, December 1, 2022, or precisely at 2°42.370'S 105°51.263'E.

“Our Command Center at around 02:20 WIB received information from the Operational Manager of MV Serasi I, Deo, that seawater enters the ship,” Head of the Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Pangkalpinang I Made Oka Astawa told reporters today.

According to him, reports stated that the incident occurred at around 01:09 western Indonesian time (WIB). The captain, he added, then decided to run the ship aground.

“Then at 01:28 WIB, the captain named Subur informed that the ship was in a nosedive position,” he explained, adding that 17 crew members managed to save themselves by using Lifecraft.

“At 03:23 WIB, 17 victims of MV Serasi 1 were evacuated by KM Lotus who was passing by, and taken to Tanjung Kalian Muntok Port,” he said.

Made said his side thus launched a Joint SAR Operation and dispatched personnel from the Muntok SAR Standby Unit and the Pangkalpinang SAR Agency to the incident area.

“Parties involved in this joint SAR operation are Basarnas, TNI AL, Directorate of the Bangka Belitung Regional Police, KSOP, West Bangka Police, BPBD, Fortynine Diving Club, KKP, and Muntok Health Center workers,” he said.

SERVIO MARANDA

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News