LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — At dawn on Wednesday, the 13th day since the KM Putri Sakinah disappeared into the waters of the Padar Strait, the sprawling search operation for its last missing soul began not with a siren, but with a briefing. Under the soft morning light, 168 personnel from a mosaic of agencies—rescue, military, park authority, and local diving community—gathered to refine a strategy now narrowed to a single, heartbreaking objective: finding a nine-year-old Spanish boy.
The coordinated machinery of the search, a testament to persistence in the face of diminishing odds, swung back into motion with disciplined precision.
“At 07.00 AM local time this morning, the Joint SAR Team moved toward the search location according to the operational plan,” explained Fathur, a spokesperson for the coordinated team.
The focus, he said, would be a multi-pronged assault on a stubborn sea: surface sweeps, thermal drone surveillance, and diving operations concentrated south of Komodo Island, near where the shattered wreck was discovered days earlier.
The deployment is vast—18 major assets scouring from sea, air, and underwater—yet its goal is singular. The boy is the final member of a family torn apart on the night of December 26. His father, Valencia CF coach Martin Carreras Fernando, and his two older siblings have been recovered.
The sea, having relinquished three, now guards its last secret with the same currents that carried the wreck 7.48 nautical miles from its sinking point.
“All elements are working in an integrated manner, prioritizing personnel safety and search effectiveness,” Fathur continued. The official language of coordination, however, cannot mask the human urgency beneath. “We hope the victim can be found soon to provide certainty and peace for the family.”
For the expatriate and traveler community in Bali, for whom Labuan Bajo is a familiar gateway to adventure, the ongoing search paints a contrasting picture to the region’s postcard image.
The same waters that offer world-class diving now host a grim, determined fleet. The thermal drones that typically capture scenic aerial footage now scan for a different kind of trace. The professional dive community, usually guiding tourists through coral gardens, now searches a broken hull.
As the search continues into the afternoon, subject to the moods of weather and sea, the operation stands as a sobering narrative of modern tragedy in a ancient landscape.
It is a story of immense logistical effort focused on one small life, of advanced technology deployed to answer a most basic human question, and of a paradise that must sometimes reveal its other, more formidable nature.
The teams will search until light fades, driven by a collective hope to bring a final measure of certainty to a story that has, for thirteen days, been defined by its agonizing lack.
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