A cessna aircraft was deployed on Monday to search for cargo ship MV Nur Allya, which has been without contact since the communication was cut off on August 20 near Indonesia’s Buru Island in Maluku. The vessel was carrying about 25 crew members.

“[The aircraft was deployed] to support flight distress alert patrol in the waters [between] Obi Island and Buru-Namlea Island,” Ambon Search and Rescue Agency head Muslimin said as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday.

The aircraft, flying under Susi Air, was dispatched from Sultan Babullah Airport in Ternate, he added.

The search and rescue agency received a report of lost contact from the Ternate Search and Rescue Office on August 20. The vessel was carrying nickel ore from Weda in Halmahera to Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Separately, the Navy’s Central Region Armada Command announced it had discovered the shipwreck of KM Santika Nusantara northwest of Bawean Island, East Java. The vessel previously caught fire on August 22.

The shipwreck was found floating at 2.20pm local time, some 60 nautical miles from war vessel KRI Ahmad Yani-351, which had been on patrol together with KRI Karel Satsuit Tubun-356 since August 23.

“The discovery will help ease the investigation into the cause of the fire as well as the search of victims’ bodies, which are possibly still within the shipwreck,” the command said in a written statement without providing an estimate on the number of victims.

It was speculated that the incident occurred in Masalembo Island waters. THE JAKARTA POST/ANN