JAKARTA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- One body has been recovered while a search and rescue mission for 16 missing crews is expanded to coastal areas after a cargo boat went down in waters off central Indonesia, a rescuer said Monday.
The cargo boat KM Lintas Timur with all 18 crews on board sank on June 1 and one of the crews Yakob A.N. was rescued alive four days later by an Indian ship, who informed about the accident, according to the search and rescue office in the provincial capital of Palu Basrano.
The Rescuer said there is a possibility that crews had reached coastal areas and survived with the current movement heading to the lands.
"Therefore in our efforts to look for the missing we have also included and coordinated with sailors and security apparatus in coastal areas to find out if any crew has come ashore. I am sanguine that there is still a possibility that the missing crews are still alive," Basrano, head of the office told Xinhua over phone.
Still, the rescue operation was hampered by huge waves up to 2 meters high and torrential rains, as the visibility becomes short, he said.
The search and rescue operation involves a plane, a helicopter, and several ships, according to him.
Boat is an effective and favorite means of transportation in the vast-archipelagic nation, which is home to over 17,500 islands. However, the crews have not often fully lived up to the safety standard, which endangers the journey at sea.
