Sea conditions continue to disrupt search and retrieval operations: Ship commanders, fishermen

PANGKALAN BUN — Strong waves continue to disrupt search and retrieval operations for the downed AirAsia flight off Kalimantan today (Jan 2), said ship commanders and fishermen TODAY spoke to, although they noticed a reprieve from heavy rain and strong winds.

Compared to the past two days where heavy rains and 38-knot winds have forced Basarnas (Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency) to cancel some search operations, the captain of Basarnas rescue ship KN SAR 224 said he observed calm weather and improved visibility on the seas off Pangkalan Bun, where flight QZ8501 perished with 162 people on board.

Speaking from his docked ship at Pangkalan Bun’s Kumai port, the captain, who only wants to be known as Mr Ahmad, said wind speeds have fallen to about 30 knots on the seas. Unfortunately, waves of three to four metres continue to persist on the open seas, said fishermen and ship personnel.

One fisherman, 35-year-old Mr Sulinman, said waves will sometimes subside to a height of 1 metre after 3am in the morning before strengthening again after 10am. Bad weather is expected to continue in the next few weeks, given the monsoon season, he added.

Nonetheless, Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel pressed on with the search and found 14 more bodies today, according to authorities at Pangkalan Bun. Ten of them have them have been flown to Surabaya while four are still in Pangkalan Bun.

Items retrieved from the crash by foreign navies and large ships were often transferred to smaller Indonesian ships or flown by helicopter to the Central Kalimantan city.

Captain Rangga Mahardhika, a chief engineer on board a marine police boat, said strong waves has made the transfer of debris and bodies between vessels challenging.

“We cannot stabilise the ship,” he said. “If some ship have a body, we need to evacuate them by linking up the ships. It’s very difficult because ships have different sizes.”

In addition, debris and bodies submerged underwater will be hard to spot due to weak sunlight -— caused by cloudy skies — and the muddy coastal water, said the chief engineer.

Noting that many families of crash victims are anxious to see the bodies of their loved ones again, Mr Ahmad asks for patience. “We will be searching and searching, until we find them,” he said.

Around 100 fishing boats are on a lookout for bodies and debris floating towards Kalimantan, said local fishermen.

The boats prowl the shallow waters within three nautical miles from the coast. “Every boat communicates with each other by radio. If they see any debris or bodies from the aircraft, they will send it to the police or the nearest navy ship,” said Mr Apuy Said Abdul Gapur, a 34-year-old fisherman at Kumai port.

While the boats do not possess sonar capabilities, fishermen told TODAY that from time to time, corpses, lost items and large rocks are trapped by their fishing nets which extend 12m underwater.

The search has also been extended to the Kalimantan coastline earlier this week. Central Kalimantan Police chief BG Bambang Hermanu said six police ships and 156 personnel have been mobilised from the province to inspect coastal waters. However, due to their small size, the ships cannot be deployed if waves are too high.

Police personnel have also been engaging the help of coastal villages to scan the shore for debris and bodies.

BG Bambang said it is the first time such a disaster has happened in Central Kalimantan. “Hopefully, this is the first and last time. We hope the search can be completed quickly,” he said.