Two of the general cargo vessel’s crew members have been confirmed by officials as being dead, and seven others are still labeled as missing and are presumably also dead. The accident occurred on Tuesday off the coast of Indonesia.
The Medan Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) managed to retrieve the bodies earlier today after it was forced to expand its search area after four days of being unable to find none of the casualties.
The cargo vessel, which has been identified by officials as being the Kumala Endah, ran aground 10 miles off the Belawan port on an underwater object, presumably a shipwreck.
The object was responsible for piercing the hull of the vessel, which resulted in it sinking.
At the time, there were fourteen seafarers aboard the Kumala Endah. Out of them five were successfully rescued by SAR teams. Out of the nine, that are still unaccounted for, one is the ship’s captain and the other one is her helmsman.
Currently, underwater search operations are being initiated in order to find the missing seafarers, who are believed to be still trapped inside the cargo vessel.
The ship, which was carrying a 700-ton cargo of iron, was traveling from Gudang Arang port to Kalimantan when the accident took place.
