WNAM REPORT: A joint search and rescue (SAR) team has deployed three Indonesian Navy warships to intensify the search for a speedboat carrying five journalists and three crew members.
They went missing in the Sunda Strait while covering the volcanic activity of Mount Anak Krakatau.
Head of the Banten Search and Rescue Office Al Amrad said here on Thursday that the three warships deployed are the KRI Leuser-924, KRI Kerambit-627, and KRI Lepu-861.
“The deployment of these warships aims to bolster the search operation while expanding the coverage area in the Sunda Strait,” Amrad said.
In addition to the warships, he noted that the Navy has dispatched several other vessels, including the KAL Anyer I.3-64 and a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) from the Banten Naval Base, as well as the KAL Siaga from the Lampung Naval Base.
“The Navy’s large vessels remain actively involved in the operation. Moving forward, we will monitor wind and ocean current forecasts; it is highly likely we will expand our search northward,” he added.
Entering its third day, the search will cover a broader area depending on weather and ocean currents. Search efforts will focus on the southern and northern sectors surrounding Mount Anak Krakatau, near the locations where the journalists were last reported.
“During the second day of the search, the joint SAR team divided the area into several sectors, mobilizing around nine vessels and seven search and rescue units,” Amrad stated.
He reported that the KN SAR Tetuka vessel had combed an area of up to 68.3 nautical miles, while the KAL Anyer covered 69.5 nautical miles.
Other units swept the waters around the islands of Sebesi, Sebuku, Rakata, and Panjang, as well as the immediate vicinity of Mount Anak Krakatau.
The KRI Leuser and KRI Lepu were also deployed to search designated sectors. However, by the end of the second day’s operation, the team had yet to find any signs of the eight missing individuals.
“The search will be expanded to the northern side of Mount Anak Krakatau after the southern region has been completely swept up to a radius of approximately 20 nautical miles,” he concluded.
The eight people still in the search are Warta, the ship’s captain; Surakman, a crew member; Heriyanto, a guide; and five journalists: M. Bagus Khoirunnas from ANTARA, Ari Basuki from Merdeka, Yudhis from iNews, Daus from Anadolu, and Donal, a freelance journalist.
