September 17, 2026 | 10:17 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - On Thursday—the 10th day of the search and rescue (SAR) operation—a joint SAR team again combed the coastal area from Carita to Anyer Beach in Pandeglang Regency, Banten, Indonesia, following up on potential leads in the search for the missing journalist and boat crew who disappeared while covering the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau about two weeks ago.
Rizky Dwianto, Head of the Operations Section at the Banten SAR Office, speaking from the Joint SAR Command Post at Carita Beach, Pandeglang, stated that the land-based search was being conducted alongside field verifications of reports received from the public.
"We are continuing the land search along the coast from Carita to Anyer Beach, including following up on public reports regarding suspected sightings of bodies—though previous investigations into these claims yielded no results," he said.
Rizky explained that the search strategy for this 10th day focused evenly across 10 designated sectors, as all these areas presented a probability of being along the drift path of the speedboat KM Arupadatu I and its eight passengers.
The joint SAR team has been instructed to regularly update "e-broadcast" alerts in coordination with Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) to monitor commercial shipping traffic crossing the Sunda Strait.
Although e-broadcast reports from passing vessels have not yet confirmed any new findings, he emphasized that monitoring information from the maritime community remains a priority.
The operation also has a Basarnas HR-3601 helicopter on standby at Atang Sendjaja Air Force Base (ATS) in Bogor, West Java, ready for deployment if needed.
"Yes, we are making every effort. Basarnas is ensuring that all communication channels and search operations—whether on land, at sea, or in the air—are fully optimized until every potential lead can be verified," he said. The eight individuals being sought include five journalists—M. Bagus Khoirunnas (ANTARA News Agency), Ari Basuki (Merdeka.com), Yudhistiro (iNews), Firdaus (Anadolu), and Donal (freelance)—and three others: Warta (boat captain), Surakman (crew member), and Heriyanto (guide).
According to the operational plan map from Basarnas (National Search and Rescue Agency), the search area for the group of journalists and speedboat crew has been expanded today to cover 8,509 square nautical miles (NM), up from the 3,439 square NM covered the previous day.
The largest search zone is Sector C, spanning 3,380 square NM; this area is being combed by the naval vessels KRI Leuser and KRI Dewa Kembar, extending from the waters of the Indian Ocean west of Belimbing Island southward toward Enggano Island, Bengkulu.
Read: Anak Krakatau Anomaly Detected on Day Journalists Vanished
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