Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) – Five crew members of the KM Virgo Transport 8 survived a ship accident in the Java Sea by clinging to an empty 3-kilogram LPG cylinder and drifting for about nine hours before a tugboat rescued them.
Crew member Akmal said he and four colleagues used the cylinder for support because they could not find a lifeboat or inflatable raft after abandoning the vessel.
“Five of us held onto one LPG cylinder. It was an empty 3-kilogram cylinder,” Akmal said after being evacuated and arriving at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Tuesday.
Akmal was among 22 survivors evacuated Tuesday by a Rigid Buoyancy Boat (RBB) from Banjarmasin Naval Base after being transferred from KRI Nala at the site.
They had been transferred between several vessels since being rescued at about 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, after the accident occurred around 1 a.m., he said.
Akmal said they entered the water at about 1 a.m. and were found by a tugboat around 10 a.m., enduring nearly nine hours of large waves while clinging to the cylinder.
While in the water, Akmal and the four other crew members struggled to maintain their grip as large waves battered them until help arrived.
Akmal said he saw neither a lifeboat nor an inflatable raft during their time at sea. The five remained together until the tugboat arrived and pulled them from the water.
“I later saw survivors and dead victims aboard the tugboat, but I did not know their exact condition before they were evacuated from the sea,” he said.
Akmal, who is from Garut District, West Java, worked as a cleaner aboard the KM Virgo Transport 8 and had been employed there for about three months before the accident.
As of 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Basarnas said 114 people had been found, including 108 survivors and six dead. Another 129 people remained missing from the 243 people aboard.
Of the 114 people found, 110 had reached Banjarmasin, including 108 survivors and two deceased victims. Four other deceased victims were still being evacuated by air, Basarnas said.
The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 people, lost contact in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea around 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, September 13, while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin.
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Translator: Tumpal AA, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Primayanti
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