LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia – The sequence commenced on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at approximately 2:30 PM local time in the waters near Pede Beach on Komodo Island. Saiful, a fisherman accustomed to these currents, noticed the stranded wreck of a traditional pinisi schooner while casting his line. Entering an open cabin whose door had already given way, he encountered a body inside. Saiful promptly relayed the information to officials, setting the formal chronology in motion.
— Hey Bali (@Heybaliinfo) January 6, 2026
“One body was found inside the ship,” Saiful later recounted, adding that he observed no other victims within the accessible part of the hull. His statement became the essential first point on the SAR timeline, the kind of local testimony that often determines where national procedure begins.
The fisherman’s alert reached the joint Search and Rescue command post at Marina Labuan Bajo harbor within minutes. SAR Mission Coordinator Fathur Rahman confirmed the next step in the chronology. “The third victim was found at 14:30 WITA,” he said. “The information was conveyed by a fisherman who found one victim with the ship’s body.” The coordinator emphasized that identification would follow only after forensic examination by the police Inafis unit.
Basarnas responded to this point on the timeline by deploying its vessel KN Puntadewa 250 to the remote location for evacuation. Divers and rescue officers traveled across the protected waters of the national park, an area better known for coral gardens and tourist routes than for the exact language of disaster management. The body was retrieved and transported toward Labuan Bajo, arriving at the marina dock at around 6:10 PM.
From the harbor, the remains were transferred directly to Komodo Labuan Bajo General Hospital for the official identification process. “Regarding the discovery of one victim deceased, identification is currently underway,” Fathur stated, marking another chapter on the chronology that Basarnas continues to update daily.
VIDEO: One Son’s Return, One Still Lost: A Somber Evening at Labuan Bajo Marina#SearchAndRescue #Komodo #MaritimeRecovery #HumanStory #PutriSakinah #HeyBaliNews #GlobalAudience pic.twitter.com/FqmYEy4DfR
— Hey Bali (@Heybaliinfo) January 6, 2026
Following the initial retrieval, the SAR team carried out a diving operation to inspect the interior of the wreck. That search, recorded carefully on the official timeline, produced no further victims.
“After finding one victim, the SAR team executed a dive on the ship’s body, but the result was nil,” the coordinator explained.
Such emptiness, though expressed in procedural terms, is often the heaviest line in any SAR chronology.
The KM Putri Sakinah calamity began on the night of December 26, 2025, in the Padar Strait within Komodo National Park. The tourist vessel sank one day after Christmas with Valencia CF Women’s coach Martin Carreras Fernando and three of his children aboard. Over the previous days of the operation, SAR divers had recovered the bodies of the coach and his 12-year-old daughter. Two sons, aged nine and ten, were declared missing when the search resumed.
Police and Basarnas officials suspect that the newly retrieved body may belong to one of those boys, though no identifying features have yet been disclosed. If confirmed by Inafis, the chronology of discovery would leave only one child still missing, extending the timeline of the mission into uncertain waters.
Basarnas has pledged that the next update on the chronology will be issued after the completion of police identification. Until those results are written into the timeline, the SAR operation continues across Pulau Komodo, Pulau Rinca, and the surrounding straits, guided by fishermen’s knowledge and by the patient routines of authority. The story remains a living chronology, reminding readers that even in renowned holiday regions, the sea keeps its own record.
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