Indonesian Rescuers Pull 21 Survivors from Raft After Fishing Boat Sinks

Rescuers pulled 21 survivors from a drifting raft Tuesday morning after the fishing and passenger vessel Nazila 05 sank in rough seas off Taliabu Island, closing an overnight search that had initially placed up to 27 people missing in the waters of North Maluku province.

Muhammad Rizal, head of the search-and-rescue office in Palu city, said the survivors, mostly fishing crew, were located approximately 46 kilometers (29 miles) from the sinking site in the northern waters off Taliabu Island. The gap between the initial count of 27 missing and the 21 rescued was resolved when survivors reported that six people listed on the manifest had canceled their plans before the voyage departed.

The Nazila 05 left a port on Taliabu Island just after dusk Sunday, bound for Kema in North Sulawesi province, and never arrived. The boat's owner told authorities the captain reported the bow had been broken by high waves during rough weather, and that crew managed to board a longboat before the vessel went under. Relatives of those aboard had separately reported that the passengers tied themselves to a raft, and it was on that raft, nearly 30 miles from where the Nazila 05 sank, that rescuers found them.

Rizal had issued an earlier statement saying "All 27 people aboard managed to evacuate using a longboat before the ship went down," and later confirmed all 21 verified passengers were located. "All survivors located by rescuers will be taken to a nearby city of Gorontalo," he said in a video statement.

The search operation involved two rescue vessels and drew assistance from local fishermen, with the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, known as BASARNAS, also deploying an inflatable boat. BASARNAS released photos showing rescue ships approaching the raft and crew preparing to evacuate survivors. Rizal noted search teams continued to verify the passenger manifest to determine whether any additional persons remained unaccounted for.

The Nazila 05 was frequently used to transport tourists and known locally as a fishing and small passenger vessel, Rizal said, a dual role common across Indonesia's vast island chains. The country is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where small boats serve as essential transportation links between communities. With lax safety standards and persistent problems with overcrowding and maintenance, accidents occur frequently, and authorities have long struggled to enforce maritime safety regulations across thousands of miles of coastal waterways. The circumstances of the Nazila 05's sinking, including the cause of the structural failure and whether safety protocols were followed, are expected to draw scrutiny from investigators.