The Indonesian-flagged vessel capsized at 2.10 p.m. local time on Wednesday while its crew were installing a fender on crude oil tanker Clear Ocean Appoon 11.
"The skipper, identified as Bambang Hardiono, has gone missing, while four of the tugboat's crew have survived the accident," head of the Tanjungpinang Search and Rescue Agency, Mu’min, told local journalists.
A report was received about the accident at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, and shortly afterwards, a team of rescue workers was dispatched to the vessel, he informed.
Personnel from the Riau Islands Police's marine unit, Batam-based Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), and local residents also joined the search effort, he added.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has continued search efforts to locate three fishermen who went missing after their boat capsized near Gosong Gadang Island in Padang, West Sumatra on Sunday.
The agency sent a helicopter to support the search effort, which also involved ships from Basarnas (the National Search and Rescue Agency), the police, and the military, head of the Padang search and rescue agency, Asnedi, said earlier.
Related news: Sunken motor vessel's four crew yet untraceable in Riau Islands
Related news: Vessel with 25 passengers aboard sinks on Ketapang waters
Related news: Missing Malaysian vessel found in Dumai
Translator: Ogen, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
