Eight people on board a dinghy were rescued by Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Limited (RNML) ferry MV-Carrie after drifting for half an hour at sea between Basamuk and Madang on Friday 29th of March.
The eight people including one child and two women departed Madang onboard a dinghy at about 11am. The dinghy broke down half an hour later because of fuel depletion and began to drift out into the open sea.
Ramu NiCo Carrie Vessel spotted the dinghy and people onboard at 12midday while returning to Madang from RNML Basamuk Refinery and rescued them. The employees from Ramu NiCo onboard MV-Carrie helped the eight people aboard and tied up the dinghy to MV-Carrie by cable. The rescue process lasted approximately 10 minutes.
The rescued child was anxious due to the shock and Ramu NiCo employees on board provided him with food and drinking water to help them reduce dehydration.
They were then towed back to Madang.
Unpredictable weather continues to evolve in and around the coastal waters, and police have continuously been sounding out warning to maritime areas within the Province to take heed and to carefully plan their travels in and out of Madang.
on top of severe bad weather, travelers are also urged to be vigilant and on high alert for sea pirates who have taken advantage of the situation to thrive. They have capitalized on people traveling in with large sums of money to purchase bulk items and those traveling back with goods and cash as well.
This has prompted Raicoast people to raise concerns to their member stating that Raicoast is not an island, however, due to road conditions, commuters are forced to travel via outboard motor putting them in vulnerability.