TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii, stated that all the victims of the passenger ferry KM Barcelona 5 fire have been evacuated. Syafii mentioned that currently all retrieval teams have been withdrawn from handling the incident. "So, the evacuation process has been carried out. It doesn't have to be 7 days. If it's finished in 3 days, then it's finished," he said when met at the inauguration of the new building of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Jakarta on Monday, July 21, 2025.
Syafii said the SAR team will be redeployed for the next process, which is the retrieval of the ferry. The retrieval of the ship cannot be carried out yet as there is still heat from the remnants of the fire. "The Basarnas team will enter again once the ship is in a cold condition," he said.
The passenger ferry KM Barcelona 5 from the Port of Manado to Tahuna, Talaud Islands, caught fire in the waters of North Minahasa on Sunday, July 20, 2025. The ship, which carried hundreds of passengers, caught fire at 14:30 WITA (Indonesian Central Time).
The location of the incident was 10 miles northwest of Likupang, North Minahasa, or not far from Talise Island. The ferry was supposed to depart from the Port of Manado on Sunday, July 20, 2025, bound for the Port of Tahuna.
The Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) then deployed naval forces to assist in the evacuation of passengers. "We continue to coordinate with all related agencies to ensure that the evacuation process runs safely, quickly, and smoothly," said the Head of the TNI Information Center Major General Kristomei Sianturi in a press release on Sunday, July 20, 2025.
Based on the press release, until Sunday night, data recorded a total of 295 people rescued and five people dead. Some of the injured victims were referred to the Kandou Manado Central General Hospital (RSUP) and several other hospitals in North Sulawesi. Evacuation was carried out at two points, namely Munte Port and Bakamla Serei Pier.
The fire incident occurred around 13:50 WITA when the ship was sailing from the Port of Melonguane, Talaud Islands, to Manado. The fire started around the waters of Talise, causing panic and leading some passengers to jump into the sea to save themselves.
The TNI deployed four RIB (rigid inflatable boat) types of vessels from the equipment and transportation of the XIII/Merdeka military district command (Bekangdam), soldiers from the Naval Training and Education Command (Kodiklatal) Satdik 4, who were conducting training near the location, and two warships, KRI Pari-849 and KAL Tedung Selar, to assist in the search and rescue of the victims.
"This operation is part of the duties of the Military Operations Other Than War (OMSP) as regulated in Law Number 3 of 2025, the result of the amendment of Law Number 34 of 2004 concerning the TNI," said Kristomei.
Dani Aswara contributed to the writing of this article
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