RSIPF with the assistance from local diving company, Tulagi Dives today located and recovered the body of the missing Asian crew from a tug boat that sunk off Bungana Island in the Central Islands Province in the early evening of Thursday 27 July 2017.
There were seven crew members on board the tug boat when it sank. Six of the crew swam to safety on Bungana Island except for the one Asian crew member.
The tug boat was pulling a barge when the incident happened. It was travelling from Honiara to Malaita when it sank after the rope tied to the tug boat broke resulting in the tug boat taking in water and sinking.
The body of the Asian crew was located in the tug boat which is sitting 64 metres under water. Earlier efforts by divers from the RSIPF Explosive Ordnance Team and local professional divers from Tulagi Dives were hampered by the depth of the sunken tug boat and rough seas and strong currents at the location.
The crew of the tug boat, who survived the ordeal, are assisting police with their investigations into what led to the sinking of the boat.
