LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — The search boats have become the metronome of this town. Their departures mark the mornings, their returns measure the evenings, and between the two stands a family unable to live by any clock except hope.
On Wednesday night, Indonesia’s national rescue agency Basarnas announced a third extension of the SAR operation for the final missing child of the KM Putri Sakinah sinking, responding to direct appeals from the grieving family of Valencia CF coach Martin Carreras Fernando and a formal request from the Spanish Embassy.
“Based on our conclusion, we will extend the search for one to two more days,” said SAR Mission Coordinator Fathur Rahman of Basarnas Maumere after an evaluation meeting with the combined SAR team.
The decision pushes the mission’s horizon to January 9, 2026, a date that arrived after what officials again termed a nil result on the thirteenth day originally planned as the last.
For two weeks, probability has thinned while obligation has not. The two previous extensions, each lasting three days, led to the recovery of two victims, including one of the coach’s children. That fragile history now hangs over the port like a reluctant argument for another sunrise.
The missing boy is 9 years old and referred to only by the initial M at police request. Earlier in the operation, Basarnas recovered Coach Fernando, his 12-year-old daughter L., and his 10-year-old son whose identity was confirmed through dental records on Tuesday.
To avoid confusion, the family has four children in total; the surviving member is the youngest daughter, aged seven, while the search now focuses solely on the remaining 9-year-old son.
Weather as the Last Gate
BMKG, Indonesia’s meteorology agency, warned that Thursday’s sweeps may face fast currents, high winds, and rain across Komodo National Park waters. Rahman acknowledged how the forecast reshapes every plan.
“Currents can be quite strong, and some locations are expected to see rain both morning and night during tomorrow’s search,” he explained, describing an operation already racing against elements that have erased conventional clues.
The sinking on December 26, 2025, in the Padar Strait occurred a day after Christmas, when the European family was traveling through islands celebrated for adventure yet known locally for unpredictable channels. The coach’s wife and their youngest daughter survived the initial disaster, but the sea kept the others.
From Breaking Alert to Long Waiting
Spanish Ambassador Bernardo de Sicart Escoda, who visited Bali earlier Wednesday, submitted a diplomatic appeal urging continuation into the fourteenth and fifteenth days. The embassy’s note did not challenge Indonesian professionalism; it pleaded for its endurance.
Combined SAR units in Manggarai Barat have since prepared divers, surface vessels, and thermal drones for renewed sweeps from Padar to Rinca and south of Pede Beach.
For the watching international community in Bali, many of whom follow the story through English-language local media such as Hey Bali News, the extensions have turned a breaking maritime alert into a lesson about the limits of human effort. Embassy cables speak in formal paragraphs, yet the port answers in waves and miles of water.
Editorial Reflection
At Labuan Bajo I learned that a mother measures mercy by the return of boats. Pasrah, surrender to God, does not mean defeat; it is a language of waiting that walks beside professional duty. The third extension granted by Basarnas declares that a child’s value does not shrink after thirteen days.
#heybalinews | Giostanovlatto