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Bisnis.comJAYAPURA – Commander of Lantamal XI Merauke Brigadier General TNI Mar. Gatot Mardiyono said that Indonesian Navy deployment of aircraft to patrol the whereabouts of the KM Vivie Rae II which was damaged and drifting in the Arafura Sea.

Apart from the plane, his party also deployed KRI Tarakan from Ambon to help evacuate KM Vivie Rae II.

Brigadier General Mar. Gatot told ANTARA in Jayapura on Monday that the Indonesian Navy’s broken plane had been on patrol since Sunday (5/3) and had even communicated with the crew of the ship carrying six tourists from the Marshall Islands.

From communication with the crew of KM Vivie Rae II, he said, it was revealed that all passengers were in good health.

Earlier, Chief SAR Merauke Supriyanto Ridwan said the joint Merauke SAR team had to postpone the evacuation of KM Vivie Rae II which was floating in Arafura waters due to worsening of time.

“It is true that the Combined SAR Team using KN Merpati on Sunday around 0200 WIT returned to the Merauke Navigation Pier as upon arrival in the waters of Habee Island the sea conditions were becoming more extreme,” said he declared.

Currently, KN Merpati is still waiting for the weather to improve to continue SAR operations. Another effort, he continued, was to perform electronic broadcasts (e-broadcast) to vessels passing around the KM Vivie Rae II position for relief efforts.

The Motorboat (KM) Vivie Rae II of the Marshall Islands carrying six tourists has been drifting in the Arafuru Sea since Thursday (2/3) after suffering engine damage due to the propeller entangled in a rope.

The ship’s position is south of Komoran Island, about 300 km from Merauke Pier.

Ridwan explained that the KM Vivie Rae II is a 24-meter-long, 7-meter-wide cruise ship that left Marshall Island on February 26 for the purpose of Sorong.

The ship was carrying six tourists, namely Jean Pierre van Wyngaard (35) South African citizen, Taylor Marie Loehrer (31) USA, Shahinaz Al Sibahi Alarnaout (35) England, J-Dean Shane van Der Westhuisen ( 31) South Africa, Matthew Robert Gyorffy (30) Canada, Olivia Di Velice (31) a Canadian citizen.

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