11 tourists rescued after speedboat sinks in Indonesia

Indonesian rescuers found alive 11 European tourists and a local crew member who went missing after their speedboat apparently broke apart and sank in rough weather off a bay on Sulawesi Island, officials said Saturday. Search teams continued looking for the vessel’s Captain.

The vessel departed a dive resort in Tojo Unauna regency of Central Sulawesi province bound for Marisa Port in the neighbouring Gorontalo province but failed to arrive as scheduled, said Heriyanto, Head of the Gorontalo Province Search and Rescue Office. A local tour guide reported the missing boat to the search and rescue office at 3.40 pm (local time) on, prompting an immediate search operation, said Heriyanto, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name.

“Concerns arose when their speedboat had not arrived by afternoon,” Heriyanto said. “We immediately launched a search mission overnight.”

Five Dutch nationals, three Germans, a Czech man, a Belgian man, a French woman and two Indonesian crew members were on board, according to Indonesian authorities.

There was no immediate comment from the national embassies of the tourists.

Heriyanto said dozens of search and rescue teams were deployed in a search operation covering approximately 300 square nautical miles of waters along and around Tomini Bay, a renowned marine tourism destination, with dozens of islands dotting its vast waters, based on the tour boat’s route projections. A thermal-imaging drone and diving equipment were also being used in the search, he said.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency forecast generally clear skies in the area, but rescuers on Saturday have faced challenging sea conditions, including strong winds and waves reaching up to 2.5 metres (8 feet) high.