Four crewmembers from an Indonesian coastal ship were rescued from the Bali Sea, after being adrift for four days on a makeshift raft made of styrofoam coolers.
More specifically, the Indonesia SAR agency in Surabaya received reports of an overdue ship on May 28 and launched a search covering about 345 nautical miles.
The vessel had departed on May 26 sailing in tandem with another vessel for an overnight trip due to arrive in the port of Sapekan. Crewmembers from the second ship reported that they lost sight of vessel overnight.
They made it to port as planned, but when the second vessel did not arrive concerned family members notified the SAR agency. SAR teams then began the search of the region and requested assistance from other vessels in the area.
According to the sailors, their ship lost power in rough seas with strong waves after water reached the engine. They also lost radio contact. Realizing that their ship was in danger they found several styrofoam coolers that they strung together with rope into a makeshift raft.
In addition, they gathered bottled water and dried food before they were forced to abandon ship onto their makeshift raft.
On May 30, a fishing boat happened upon the four missing crewmembers. They were located some 60 miles offshore but in good health.
