Family members of Valencia CF Femenino B coach Fernando Martin Carreras remain missing after a phinisi boat sank in Komodo National Park, East Nusa Tenggara, with one body recovered as search efforts continue.
The Spanish family boarded the KM Putri Sakinah, which was carrying 11 people (six passengers and five crew members, including the captain), and set sail from Labuan Bajo Harbour on Friday, 26th of December, with Kalong Island as their first stop.
At around 8.30 PM WITA (Central Indonesian Time), the boat departed Kalong Island and continued towards Padar Island in Komodo National Park. Then, the journey turned terrifying when the boat suffered engine failure in the middle of the sea about 30 minutes into the voyage. Unable to manoeuvre, waves suddenly surged and struck the vessel twice.
“The ship was hit by the waves twice. In the second wave, the ship fell to the side and sank,” said Mar, Carreras’ wife, who survived along with her youngest daughter, Ortuna Andrea, in a written statement on Sunday, 28th of December.
The ship’s captain, Lukman, said that Carreras and his three children were sleeping in a cabin in the hull, while his wife and youngest daughter were in an upper cabin.
It was reported that Mar and Andrea managed to escape the vessel along with several crew members and a tour guide by climbing into a lifeboat. They were later rescued by another boat and the SAR team that arrived at the scene, before eventually being evacuated back to Labuan Bajo.
However, Carreras and his three other children, Maria Lia Martinez Ortuno, Martin Garcia Mateo, and Martinez Ortuno Enriquejavier, did not resurface after the vessel sank. They are believed to have been trapped in the hull cabin at the time of the accident.
After receiving the report of the accident, Basarnas (Badan SAR Nasional or the National Search and Rescue Agency), along with a joint SAR team from various agencies, immediately departed for the location. On the second day of the search, the team successfully located debris from the KM Putri Sakinah approximately five nautical miles from the crash site. The search also included diving to depths of more than 20 metres at the point where the vessel sank.
Edy Suryono, Coordinator of the West Manggarai SAR Post in Labuan Bajo, said that the SAR operation had recovered several items belonging to the tourist vessel on which the victims had been travelling.
“We will expand the search area, but will continue to coordinate with fishermen who are fishing in those waters,” said Suryono.
Alvaro, a member of Carreras’ extended family who is also in Labuan Bajo, expressed hope that the missing victims would be found soon and returned to Spain.
“So we can bring them back home (to Spain),” Alvaro told the media.
Then, on the fourth day of the search, 29th of December, the SAR team recovered the body of a deceased woman at 6.05 AM.
“We received information from Mr. Nasaruddin, a resident of Serai Island, Labuan Bajo, that he saw a body floating in the waters north of Serai Island, Labuan Bajo,” said Fathur Rahman, Head of the Maumere SAR Office and SAR Mission Coordinator (SMC).
After docking at Labuan Bajo Marina Harbour at 7.30 AM, the victim was immediately taken to Komodo Regional Hospital, accompanied by Mar and her youngest daughter to ensure that the body found was that of one of her children through a medical identification process by the hospital’s forensic team.
To date, Basarnas stated that the three victims remain missing and are still being searched for. No official statement from SAR authorities confirming their deaths will be issued until the operation is completed or further evidence is found.