Minister of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology Ali Ihusan has said that events that led to the disappearance of the three individuals involved in the 'Friends 4' supply boat rescue mission are so far unclear, adding that alleging negligence at this time is not justified.
The 'Friends 4' supply boat which was travelling to Huvadhu atoll started taking on water. Authorities received reports of the incident at around 10:40pm last Wednesday and responded immediately. During rescue efforts, a police officer, an MNDF officer and the captain of the boat went missing.
In today's parliament sitting, Kendhoo MP Mauroof Zakir questioned Minister Ihusan about the incident. In response, Ihusan said that rescue operations are a responsibility of the Defence Ministry. However, as a police officer also went missing in the incident, the search operation is now top priority for the State, he said.
"The search for these three missing persons is one of the current operations that the State is giving the highest priority to. I do not believe this is the appropriate time to allege negligence. The reason is, how the events of the incident unfolded is also not clear as of yet, nor have we found any of the missing persons yet," Ihusan said.
Everyone's hopes are that the three are found safe, Ihusan added.
MNDF stated yesterday that the search operation has now covered 7,512 nautical miles by air and 1970.10 square nautical miles by sea. However, there have been no signs of the missing individuals as of yet.
The Foreign Ministry also announced that they are seeking foreign expertise and technical support to aid in the search operation.
The Friends 4 supply boat had been carrying rock aggregate, gravel and sand and was travelling to an uninhabited island, Han'das, in Lhaviyani atoll when it started taking on water and sinking.
At the time of the incident, there were eight persons on board the vessel: seven foreign crew members and the boat's captain, Mohamed Hamdhoon. The seven crew members were rescued, but Hamdhoon went missing alongside police officer Ali Nafiu and MNDF officer Ibrahim Ahmed.
The three had been engaged in bailing water out of the sinking boat when the vessel toppled, after which they were not seen.
The boat capsized 4.1 nautical miles outside of GA. Kudalafari, MNDF said. They estimate that the area has a depth of 1,645 metres (5,489 feet). MNDF said that it would be impossible to recover the boat if it has sunk to this depth. They also said that the boat is no longer visible in the area.
