Maldives National Defence Force has said that the area where the 'Friends 4' supply boat sank has a depth of approximately 1,645 meters.
Authorities received reports on August 5 that the "Friends 4" supply boat, which had been carrying gravel, sand and rock aggregate, was taking on water and sinking while travelling to an uninhabited island, Lh. Handas. MNDF and Police immediately responded, rescuing crew and attempting to save the boat from sinking.
While engaged in rescue efforts, an MNDF officer, a Police Officer and the captain of the boat went missing.
MNDF said that the boat capsized 4.1 nautical miles outside of GA. Kudalafari. The area has a depth of 1,645 meters (5,489 feet), according to MNDF's estimates.
MNDF said that neither the three missing persons, nor the sunken boat have been found as of yet despite continuing efforts.
"We are unable to say how deep the boat sank, because we are unable to say exactly how deep the area is. It will be impossible to recover the boat based on MNDF's estimates of the area's depth," an MNDF media official said.
At the time of the incident, eight persons had been onboard the vessel: the boat's captain, Mohamed Hamdhoon, and seven foreign crew members. The seven crew members were rescued, but Hamdhoon went missing while working with the team bailing water out of the vessel to prevent it from sinking.
Along with Hamdhoon, an MNDF officer, Ibrahim Ahmed, and police officer, Ali Nafiu, also went missing at sea during the rescue efforts.
Last night, MNDF said that 5,212 nautical miles have been searched by air, and 1,071.10 square nautical miles have been searched via sea as of now in efforts to locate the missing men. The search, however, remains unsuccessful as of yet.
Mihaaru News cited a source as saying the three men had gone missing when the sinking vessel had toppled while they had been engaged in bailing water out of it to prevent it from sinking. A video of the incident that later emerged shows the vessel taking on water rapidly, with one end getting submerged. Just moments later, the entire boat sinks in, even as rescue efforts were ongoing, with another vessel active nearby.
