Makassar (ANTARA Sulsel) - The Indonesian Navy is deploying personnel, ships and aircraft to take part in efforts to find more than 200 people who have gone missing in the KM Teratai Prima shipwreck in the Makassar Strait on Sunday morning, a spokesman said. "To find them, the Navy is initiating land, sea and air operations," Col Joko Santoso, assistant for intelligence to the commander of the Navy's Main Base VI in Makassar, said here on Monday.

He said 40 naval personnel had been assigned to join the 20 men of the Search and Rescue Team to find the missing boat trevelers.

Four naval warships, namely KRI Slamet Riyadi, KRI Untung Surapati, KRI Kakap and KRI Hasan Basri, had also been deployed to help in the search in the sea in addition to two boats from the Marine Police Command in South Sulawesi and three other boats from the Police Headquarters.

"Air-borne search operations will be done by a navy helicopter and a Nomad from the National Defense Forces (TNI) Headquarters. They will arrive at Sultan Hasanuddin airport from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan , while an Air Force Boeing 7301 is already in the area of the shipwreck," he said.

According to the Navy, the ill-fated boat was carrying a total 317 people , including 17 crew members and its skipper.

So far, only 22 of them had been saved, according to Wahidah, the administrator of Parepare port from where the Teratai Prime had departed for Samarinda in East Kalimantan. (T. H-YH/HAJM/S012)