Padang. Ten foreign nationals were evacuated early Saturday after their vessel began taking on water off the southern coast of West Sumatra while en route to the Mentawai Islands.

The motor vessel KM Sueisan Indo Satu, which was carrying 10 foreign passengers and six Indonesian crew members, suffered a hull leak near Sinyamuk Island around 11:55 p.m. local time on Friday. The boat was sailing from Muara Padang to Sikakap Port in the Mentawai Islands when the incident occurred.

“We received the distress call at 2:57 a.m. on Saturday. Our SAR team immediately departed from Bungus Port aboard the KN SAR Yudistira 227,” said Ilham, captain of the rescue vessel, in a statement.

The rescue team reached the scene at approximately 4:50 a.m. All 10 foreign nationals were found in good health and were safely evacuated to the SAR vessel. The six crew members chose to remain on board to attempt repairs, as the vessel was still afloat.

“All passengers were in safe condition. The foreign nationals were evacuated to our vessel, while the crew stayed behind to handle the damage themselves,” Ilham said.

The evacuated passengers were transported to Bungus Port, arriving at 7:25 a.m., where they were met by their respective tour guides or travel agents.

The passengers included nationals from five countries: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, France, and Peru. All crew members were Indonesian citizens from Padang.

Challenging weather conditions, including waves reaching up to 2.5 meters and winds of up to 10 knots accompanied by rain, made the evacuation effort more difficult. However, the operation was completed without any major issues.

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