Eleven Indonesian fisherman survived three days at sea clinging to their upturned boat, rescuers said Wednesday, as they looked for at least 22 crew members who remain missing following the weekend disaster that killed two.
The boat, carrying at least 35 people, wrecked on Saturday in waters off the isolated Selayar Islands in South Sulawesi Province, before the 11 survivors were discovered stranded on two distinct atolls after days at sea.
Their boat capsized amid heavy weather during Indonesia’s rainy season, according to the local search and rescue organization.
“They had been floating in the sea for three days and were carried away by the current to Selayar waters,” local government official Andi Caco Amras told AFP on Wednesday.
The two victims were discovered on separate islands.
On March 3, the fishing boat departed from a port in North Jakarta for Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province.
The navy and rescue volunteers assisted in the search attempts.
“The joint team will conduct a search and rescue operation and they have departed… this morning,” local search and rescue official Andi Raswan told AFP.
He estimated that it would take rescuers five hours to reach the spot.
Local fishermen discovered the survivors and informed police, according to state news agency Antara.
Amras told AFP that survivors reported holding out at sea for three days by wearing life jackets and attaching themselves to the boat.
“They were hauled away with the boat to the Selayar Islands. “The boat was turned over, with the bottom at the top,” said the official.
The 93-ton yacht was carrying “fishing equipment such as fish traps, nets, rocks, ropes, coconut leaves, and fishing rods,” he stated.
Amras stated that 35 people were on the boat, with 22 missing, whereas the rescue service reported a higher toll of 37 and 24 missing.
In Indonesia, the actual number of passengers on a boat often differs from the manifest.
Authorities received reports of the event early Tuesday, but claimed poor weather delayed rescue attempts.
Marine mishaps are common in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of about 17,000 islands, because to inadequate safety standards.
In 2018, more than 150 people were killed when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island.