The termination of the SAR mission was announced on Saturday (July 27) by Basarnas' Operational Director Edy Prakoso after a joint team of rescuers, based in Timika, Central Papua, exhaustively searched for the missing vessel since July 19.
Cita XX left Timika port on July 15, carrying building materials for the 4G BTS project of the Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) under the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) in Yahukimo District, Highland Papua.
Prakoso said the Basarnas rescuers along with their counterparts from the Indonesian Police and Military had extensively searched for the missing BTS ship during their seven-day search mission but they did not find it.
Apart from that, he added, Basarnas would resume its SAR operation if it received credible reports from local residents about shipwreck discoveries or bodies related to the missing BTS vessel in the future.
The vessel, with 12 crew members, was scheduled to arrive in Lokpon, Yahukimo, on July 18, but went missing after its last contact with MV Prima Jaya on July 16.
The twelve crew members on board the missing ship were identified as Junaidi (skipper), Dedi Irawan Mualim, M. Arif Efendi, Haikal, Rusli, Agiera, Nimrot, Lukman Hakim, Samsudin, Asmoro, Suherman, and Alhakim.
Head of the Timika Search and Rescue Agency, I Wayan Suyatna, reported earlier that the search mission was backed up by the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) and the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU).
The TNI-AU deployed its B-737 surveillance aircraft while the TNI-AL's Third Fleet Command (Koarmada III) sent its naval ship KRI Teluk Lada-512 and Yapero III-11-17 patrol boat for the search mission, he said.
Suyatna said the SAR agency received a report of the missing ship on July 19 and initiated its search mission on July 20.
Meanwhile, Koarmada III Spokesperson Colonel R. Doni Kundrat said the patrol boat was searching the waters from the estuary of Amamapare River in Mimika to Tiga Island in South Papua.
KRI Teluk Lada-512 focused its search on the Mimika waters, while other joint teams of rescuers used inflatable boats to track the missing ship in several estuaries in Agats and Tiga Island.
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Translator: M.Riezko BEP, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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