Karimata Strait is a wide strait separating Indonesias islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"After receiving report of the disappearance of the Mega Sukses VII tugboat, which had set sail from the Dwikora Port of Pontianak and was heading to the Tanjung Priok Port of Jakarta, we deployed a rescue boat RB 214," Spokesperson of the SAR Team Untung Supriadi noted here on Monday.
However, before the tugboat lost contact, Karimata Strait was its last known position.
The Mega Sukses VII tugboat was carrying eight crew members: Syamsu Marling, Anton Adnan, Damianus Tosuli, Efran Kuranden, Indra Gunawan, Mus Muliadi, Ciang Adnan, and Robyansyah.
The rescuers have broadened their search location to four main areas covering 225 nautical square miles, but the tugboat has yet to be found.
Another rescue boat RB 201 of the SAR office of Pangkal Pinang has been deployed to assist in the search operation.
Reinforcement from the Sintete SAR post will also join the search operation along with the SAR team of Pontianak, Pangkal Pinang, and Ketapang to locate the missing tugboat.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
