Two Dead, Seven Missing after Cargo Ship Sinks off Indonesia
SAR Rescue Teams (Illustration)Two crew members of a general cargo ship that sank off Indonesia on Tuesday have been confirmed dead, with seven more reported missing and feared dead.
The bodies have been retrieved earlier today by the Medan Search and Rescue Agency (SAR), who in their fourth day of search and rescue activities, had to expand the search area, local media inform.
The cargo ship, identified as Kumala Endah, ran aground on an underwater object, believed to be a shipwreck, 10 miles off the port of Belawan.
The object pierced the cargo ship’s hull sinking the vessel.
Fourteen crew members were on board the ship; five have been rescued by SAR and nine were unaccounted for, including the vessel’s captain and helmsman.
Underwater search for the missing victims, believed to be still trapped inside the cargo ship, is underway.
The vessel, loaded with 700 tons of iron, was en route from Gudang Arang port for Kalimantan when the grounding occurred.
World Maritime News Staff; Image: SAR
