LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia – In the silent, sun-dappled depths of Komodo National Park, a methodical and somber search continued this week. Exclusive underwater footage released by the Water and Air Police Directorate (Ditpolairud) of the East Nusa Tenggara Regional Police and obtained by Hey Bali News provides a haunting, first-person view into the final stages of the search within the wreck of the KM Putri Sakinah.
The video, recorded on January 6, 2026, shows a team of at least three police divers, their oxygen tanks emitting streams of bubbles, conducting a meticulous cabin-by-cabin sweep of the sunken schooner.
The visuals confirm the vessel’s catastrophic damage: the hull has largely sheared away, leaving only the main deck structure submerged on the seabed.
Amidst the skeletal remains of the ship, a mattress can be seen still pinned within the wreckage, a stark domestic detail against the marine environment.
This forensic underwater exploration was the next critical step in the official chronology, triggered by a grim discovery earlier that same Tuesday.
At 14:30 WITA on January 6, a local fisherman found the body of a young boy, believed to be one of the missing sons of Valencia CF coach Martin Carreras Fernando, inside the stranded wreck of the Putri Sakinah at Pede Beach. Following that recovery, the dive team was deployed to exhaustively search the vessel’s interior.
As SAR Mission Coordinator Fathur Rahman stated, after the initial recovery, “the SAR team executed a dive on the ship’s body, but the result was nil.” This footage is the visual documentation of that nil result—a thorough search that yielded no further victims within the confines of the broken vessel.
The location of this painstaking task is now precisely known. Authorities have revealed the wreck lies at coordinates 08°36’35.139″ S 119°40’36.826″ E, a significant 7.48 nautical miles from the initial sinking site in the Padar Strait, underscoring the powerful currents that govern these waters.
For the global community in Bali and travelers familiar with these islands, the footage transforms the tragic saga from headlines into a tangible, sobering reality.
The Putri Sakinah, a vessel of a design synonymous with Indonesian maritime heritage and tourism, is seen not in travel brochures but as a fractured wreck on the ocean floor.
The divers’ deliberate movements highlight the peril and precision inherent in underwater recovery operations, a world away from the recreational diving that draws thousands to this very national park.
With the interior of the wreck now conclusively searched, the operation enters a new phase. As Coordinator Rahman indicated, the focus will shift to “searches around the ship’s body and in other suspected areas.” The decision on extending the intensive 12-day mission hinges on these next steps.
The video serves as a poignant, visual full stop to the search within the wreck itself. It confirms the sea has relinquished what it held inside the Putri Sakinah, leaving authorities—and a watching world—to scan the vast, blue expanse for one final missing soul: the second young son of Valencia CF coach Martin Carreras Fernando.
Exclusive underwater footage reveals the final, somber search inside the wrecked KM Putri Sakinah in Komodo. https://t.co/al5ppKTwYz#Komodo #PutriSakinah #SearchAndRescue #Indonesia #Maritime #BaliNews #LabuanBajo #Valencia pic.twitter.com/niyRrHoUic
— Hey Bali (@Heybaliinfo) January 6, 2026
#heybalinews
