Stranded crew remain adrift due to extreme weather

The Jakarta Post, Semarang Sat, January 12 2013,


Fifteen crew members of the KM Tirta Samudra XXI ship, who have been drifting on a lifeboat near Karimun Jawa Island since Friday, remained unreachable as of Saturday night due to extreme weather.

Earlier on Saturday, a military helicopter flew to the lifeboat’s last known location 12 nautical miles from Karimun Jawa Island in Central Java to monitor the situation.

Capt. Bayu Setyo, the Bell helicopter’s pilot, however, said the boat had moved from its original location due to strong winds.

“We could not find the boat at the ordinates given by the rescue team. We presume the boat has moved to the east,” Bayu said.

“We could not continue the search as the rain was teeming,” he added.

The search and rescue team sent the PT Pelindo III ship to rescue the passengers, but the ship could not make much headway due to waves reaching up to four meters high.

Semarang National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) head Slamet Riyadi said the search would be continued on Sunday. “We have been informed that the 15 crew members are safe,” he said.

The crew has been stranded on a lifeboat after their ship sank in the Java Sea early Friday.

The ship, belonging to PT Tirta Cipta Mulia Persada in Batam, lost radio contact on Thursday night.

Members of the rescue team began searching on Friday but to no avail. Basarnas’ boats could not reach the location as they are made from fiberglass and could not tackle the high waves.



( “We have been informed that the 15 crew members are safe,” he said.

That would have been when the crew took to the lifeboat, but now a modern lifeboat? These are covered in and near unsinkable, but the "old style"? Open to the weather and easily to get swamped by 3 to 5 meter high waves, these guys have been out there for over two and a half days, not much hope if you would ask me. siK.)