Basarnas Helps Repatriate Body of Deceased Crewmember

[Brief] Indonesian rescue agency Basarnas has helped remove the remains of a seafarer who was killed in an accident aboard a bulker in the Indian Ocean. 

The victim, identified as Philippine national Crispin Cadiz, was working aboard the bulker Lowland Comfort. On July 4, he was killed in a deck accident in foul weather, according to operator STX Marine.

The Lowland Comfort continued on her commercial journey, and when she reached the Bay of Bengal, she arranged to meet an Indonesian search and rescue vessel to offload and repatriate the body. 

SAR vessel KN Kresna 232 rendezvoused with Lowland Comfort about seven nautical miles off the coast of Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh. The body was transferred over using a small gangway, and the crew of Kresna 232 helped transport it to a hospital on shore. 

"The plan is, the body will be repatriated to his home country through Jakarta," Basarnas spokesperson Ibnu Harris Al Hussain told Antara News. 

Banda Aceh is located at the northwestern mouth of the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways on earth. Basarnas regularly provides medevacs for commercial ships passing by. Kresna 232 evacuated an injured engineer from the tanker Delta Blue in June and a stroke victim from the bulker Mairini in May.