September 10, 2026 | 11:07 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Basarnas (the National Search and Rescue Agency) is mobilizing all available resources and a joint fleet to locate a group of journalists and speedboat crew members who lost contact while covering activity at Mount Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, Pandeglang Regency, Banten.
"Basarnas and field personnel will maximize all available resources. We ask for prayers that the search operation proceeds smoothly and safely, and that all the victims are found," said Edy Prakoso, Basarnas Deputy for Operations and Preparedness, in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday evening, September 9, 2026.
The eight individuals being sought include five journalists—M. Bagus Khoirunnas (ANTARA News Agency), Ari Basuki (Merdeka.com), Yudhistiro (iNews), Firdaus (Anadolu), and Donal (freelance journalist)—and three others: Warta (boat captain), Surakman (crew member), and Heriyanto (guide).
He expressed concern regarding the incident and assured that the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation would continue on a massive scale.
An initial search operation conducted by the Banten SAR Office on Tuesday,Sept. 8, deployed the KN SAR Tetuka and RIB-02 within a 3.2-kilometer radius of Mount Anak Krakatau but failed to locate the missing individuals.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the SAR team expanded the operation by dividing a 68.3-nautical-mile search area into four Search and Rescue Unit (SRU) sectors and deploying a large-scale, multi-agency SAR fleet.
The deployed fleet includes Basarnas' KN SAR Tetuka; the Indonesian Navy's KRI Loser, KRI Kerambit, KRI Lepu, KAL Anyer, and KAL Pahawang; the Water Police's KP Sanjaya; three Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) from the Banten and Lampung SAR offices; and local SAR resources, including volunteers and fishermen. "Throughout the operations conducted so far, the search has yielded no results," said the official, who was accompanied by Basarnas Director of Preparedness Noer Isrodin and Basarnas Director of Operations Yudhi Bramantyo.
Basarnas reported that the search operation would resume on Thursday morning, Sept. 10, 2026, employing a strategy focused on the northern side of the Mount Anak Krakatau area while taking into account currents, wave shifts, and wind direction.
Read: Three Facts on the Search for Missing Journalists Near Anak Krakatau
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