FIVE "MV MANDIRI NUSANTARA" CREW MEMBERS STILL MISSING

Gresik, East Java, June 4 (ANTARA) - Search and rescue (SAR) teams have yet to find five crew members of the "MV Mandiri Nusantara" who went missing after the vessel caught fire in Masalembo waters on Wednesday, police said.

"Five of the boat's crew members are still missing but none of their families has reported to us so far," the local police said here on Thursday.

The MV Mandiri Nusantara with 287 passengers caught fire some 34 miles from Karamean Island, Sumenep, East Java, when the vessel was on its way from Tanjung Perak Port to Balikpapan, Kalimantan, Friday (May 29) at about 11:00 am Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).

The five crew members were presumably trapped in the ill-fated ship but the SAR team did not find them, although the vessel's wreckage had been evacuated, he said.

Some 24 of the 29 ship crew members were evacuated to Mv Timur Galaxi in Surabaya, the police said.

Fire gutted all parts of the ship, and smoke was still seen rising from the vessel when it was in the process of evacuation. It was expected to be towed to Gresik port on Thursday.

Actually, the towing of the badly damaged vessel was scheduled on Wednesday, but in view of very bad weather it had to be postponed until Thursday at 6 a.m local time, because the weather will be relatively calm during morning hours, the police said earlier.

The wreckage will be towed by a tugboat manned by a crew of 30, including 10 police personnel, and the rest provided by PT Prima Vista, the ship's owner, and the Gresik port administrator.

"Now, the coastal police unit had only towed the ship pending an investigation conducted by the port administrator," the police added.