124 Passengers Survive after Five Days Adrift
BANJARMASIN (Indonesia Today) – About 124 passengers and crews of Wihan Sejahtera ship heading from Balikpapan to Surabaya have finally arrived at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin after five days adrift in the Tabanio Waters since Monday (March 18). They are all survived.
Kompas.com reported that ninety passengers and crews were evacuated by Nakula 7002 Air & Marine Police (Polarirud) to Trisakti Port Friday (March 22) at midnight. Like 30 other passengers evacuated earlier, they were all exhausted.
Passengers are now waiting decisions from ship owner of whether they will be transported with other vessels or awaiting completion of the repair. The ship is owned by PT Trimitra Samudra.
Daruji, one of the passengers, said the ship sailed out of Balikpapan on Saturday, March 17 night but suddenly stopped in the Tabanio Waters on Monday due to machine problem.
The crews tried to fix the problem, but failed. They then called police and asked for evacuation
Source: http://www.theindonesiatoday.com/