According to the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the two male victims were found in the waters of the Tanjung Anjir Sembulungan Strait, Banyuwangi District, East Java, early Tuesday morning.
Basarnas Deputy for Search and Rescue Operations and Preparedness, Ribut Eko Suyatno, said the first body was discovered by a local fisherman at around 1:24 a.m. and retrieved by rescue teams at 3:30 a.m. under challenging conditions, including darkness, high waves, and strong currents. The second body was recovered around 5:30 a.m.
By 6:28 a.m., both bodies had been transported to Blambangan Public Hospital for identification by East Java Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.
Suyatno also noted that during Tuesday’s operation, a rescue team aboard the Indonesian Navy vessel KRI Spica 934 deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for the sunken ferry's wreckage.
The search area for the missing passengers has been expanded up to 25 miles south of the Bali Strait, he added.
As of Monday evening, Basarnas reported that 30 people had been rescued, eight confirmed dead, and 27 remained missing.
Wahyu Setia Budi, a local SAR coordinator, earlier stated that the roll-on/roll-off ferry was carrying 53 passengers, 12 crew members, and 22 vehicles when it departed Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi, East Java, at 10:56 p.m. on Wednesday. The vessel sank en route to Gilimanuk Port in Bali at approximately 11:35 p.m.
In response to the tragedy, President Prabowo Subianto has instructed all relevant government agencies to make every possible effort to rescue the remaining passengers and crew of the ill-fated ferry.
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Translator: Prisca TV, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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