the search for victims of the December 26th sinking of the Putri Sakinah pinisi schooner in Komodo National Park, Indonesia, continues to yield tragic results. On Sunday, January 4, 2026, authorities recovered a body believed to be that of Fernando Martin Carreras, a coach for Valencia CF’s women’s football team, who was traveling with his family aboard the vessel. The discovery, made approximately two kilometers from the wreck site, offers a somber growth in the ongoing search for Carreras’ two sons, still missing as of this report.
Manggarai Barat –
The body believed to be that of Fernando Martin Carreras, a coach for Valencia CF’s women’s football team, has been recovered from waters between Seraya Island and Rinca Island in Komodo National Park, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Indonesia. The discovery was made on Sunday, January 4, 2026, at approximately 8:47 a.m. local time.
Carreras and his family were passengers aboard the pinisi schooner Putri Sakinah when it sank in the Padar Island Strait within Komodo National Park on Friday, December 26, 2025. The body, presumed to be Carreras, was found roughly 1.13 nautical miles, or 2 kilometers, from the site of the shipwreck.
“At 8:47 a.m., one body was found floating in the waters off Rinca, approximately 1.13 nautical miles from the incident location,” said Fathur Rahman, Head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Office and SAR Mission Coordinator, at the SAR operation post in Labuan Bajo Marina, as reported by detikBali on Sunday.
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The recovery occurred on the tenth day of the search, which had been extended by three days. The body was initially spotted by the KPJ 2007 vessel and subsequently transported to Labuan Bajo Marina aboard the KN Puntadewa 250, a Basarnas (National Search and Rescue Agency) ship.
The remains arrived at the marina around 10:10 a.m. and were then transferred to Komodo Labuan Bajo Regional Hospital for identification.
Rahman stated that the body’s characteristics are currently unknown and that positive identification as Carreras has not yet been confirmed. Authorities are awaiting the results of an examination by forensic doctors from the Indonesian National Police and Komodo Regional Hospital.
He did confirm that the recovered body is that of an adult male. Carreras’ two sons, ages 9 and 10, remain missing.
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(dwr/imk)
