Indonesia expands search for missing Spanish family after tourist boat sinks in Komodo National Park

Indonesian authorities are continuing an intensive search for four Spanish nationals who went missing after a tourist boat sank in the Padar Strait, within Komodo National Park, late on Friday, 26 December 2025. The incident has renewed scrutiny of maritime safety in one of Indonesia’s flagship tourism destinations.

The semi-phinisi tourist vessel KM Putri Sakinah sank at around 8:45 p.m. local time while travelling from Komodo Island to Padar Island, according to the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Regional Police. The boat was carrying 11 people: six Spanish tourists, one Indonesian tour guide, and four crew members, including the captain.

Seven people were rescued shortly after the incident, including two Spanish nationals, the tour guide, and all four crew members. Four members of a single Spanish family remain unaccounted for: Martin Carreras Fernando, Martin Garcia Mateo, Martines Ortuno Maria Lia, and Martinez Ortuno Enriquejavier.

Search Expanded with Sonar and Underwater Drones

Commissioner Henry Novika Chandra, head of public relations for the NTT Regional Police, said the search operation has been expanded both at sea and underwater.

A joint team involving the Water and Air Police Directorate, the national search-and-rescue agency Basarnas, the Indonesian Navy, and the Labuan Bajo harbourmaster has deployed sonar systems, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), and professional divers.

“The search radius has been widened to 5.25 nautical miles, using patrol boats, rigid inflatable boats, and the KN SAR Puntadewa,” Henry said on Monday, 29 December.

Authorities are also coordinating closely with the Spanish Embassy and Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism to support the victims’ family and facilitate the investigation.

Search teams face difficult conditions, including strong and shifting currents, limited underwater visibility, and rapidly changing weather patterns.

The Padar Strait lies at the convergence of currents from the Flores Sea and the Sape Strait, meaning debris and victims can drift far from the initial sinking site.

Waves, Engine Failure, and Ongoing Investigation

Police said the vessel departed Labuan Bajo earlier in the day and resumed its journey towards Padar Island at around 8:30 p.m.

Roughly 30 minutes later, large waves struck the boat, causing the engine to fail before it sank. The exact cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Authorities plan to question the captain, crew members, tour operators, and shipping agents to determine whether maritime safety procedures were fully complied with, including vessel seaworthiness, route planning, and weather risk assessment.

Fragments of the boat’s hull, life jackets, and other debris have been recovered in the days following the incident.

On Monday, search teams found the body of a 12-year-old girl, one of the missing family members, confirming fears held by relatives since the sinking. Three family members remain missing.

Victim Was Valencia Women’s Football Coach

One of the missing victims, Martin Carreras Fernando, 44, was a coach with Valencia CF Women’s team in Spain.

Spain’s football community has expressed shock and grief over the tragedy. Real Madrid issued a public statement conveying condolences to Fernando’s family.

“The President and Board of Directors of Real Madrid are deeply saddened by the death of Fernando Martin, coach of Valencia C.F. Women B, and his three children in the tragic boat accident in Indonesia,” the club said, offering condolences to his wife Andrea and surviving daughter, Mar.

Safety Concerns in a Priority Tourism Are

Crucially, authorities had already issued weather warnings before the accident occurred. On 25 December 2025, Indonesia’s Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) released an early warning for southern waters of East Nusa Tenggara, including the Komodo National Park area.

The alert warned of strong winds, high waves, and the potential for sudden storms, noting that sea conditions often deteriorate rapidly from late afternoon into the evening during the west monsoon season.

However, maritime observers say the warning system itself has serious limitations.

The waters around Komodo National Park and Labuan Bajo are monitored by only two tidal and oceanographic sensors, with no dedicated instruments to measure real-time current strength or sudden localised wave surges.

This creates a highly risky environment, particularly in narrow straits such as Padar, where currents from the Flores Sea and the Sape Strait converge.

Under these conditions, short-lived but violent weather phenomena—known locally as kala-kala—can emerge with little warning, producing strong currents and steep waves that are difficult to predict using existing sensor coverage.

As a result, official forecasts may indicate generally manageable conditions, while dangerous anomalies develop rapidly at sea, especially after sunset.

In parallel with BMKG’s alert, the Labuan Bajo Harbourmaster and Port Authority had issued a Notice to Mariners covering 22–28 December, urging vessel operators to increase vigilance, continuously monitor weather updates, and avoid exposed or narrow routes when conditions worsened.

Authorities later said KM Putri Sakinah had been declared seaworthy and that weather earlier on 26 December was reported as partly cloudy—illustrating the gap between broad forecasts and the realities of highly localised marine hazards.