Search Continues As Cargo Ship With A Crew Of 16 Members Goes Missing Off Indonesia
Relevant Indonesian authorities were continuing their search mission on Monday for a vessel that was reported missing. It had 16 seafarers on board. On Friday, no contact could be re-established with the 3,900-dwt ship dubbed Mutia Ladjoni (constructed in 1983) since it reportedly ran adrift off the Aru Islands.
The ship reportedly departed from Papua province’s Timika on 9 November. It had set sail for Bontang port, based in East Kalimantan.
The Kabartimur website mentioned that Mustari, the head of the national search and rescue (SAR) agency Basarnas stated that the search operation was collaborating with the SAR team.
Mustari said efforts are being extended to locate the ship in the Aru Sea. The vessel is operated by Pelayaran Surya Bintang Timur, established in 1997. It works intra-Asia channels on a liner and tramp basis. The official website mentions a fleet comprising six cargo vessels ranging from 2,000 to 7,000 dwt.
For further and more detailed information, the shipping firm has been contacted. Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia classes the cargo vessel (BKI). It has zero port state control detentions on record.
On 2 November 2022, a sailor was reportedly lost from an 8,000-dwt cargo ship named Azov Confidence shortly after it had departed from Turkey’s port of Samsun, bound for the port of Novorossiysk. According to the Deniz Haber website, a Ukraine-based mechanic on the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel is said to have been engulfed in dense flames and jumped overboard into the sea.
References: Trade Winds News, FleetMon