Eleven tourists rescued after 24 hours adrift as speedboat breaks apart off Indonesia

Eleven tourists and one crew member have been rescued after spending more than 24 hours adrift at sea when their speedboat broke apart off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The group's vessel split in two during severe weather on Friday morning, forcing those on board to scramble onto a life raft.

However, the boat's 29-year-old captain remains missing.

The survivors have since been evacuated to a resort in the Tojo Unauna regency of Central Sulawesi, where their ill-fated journey began.

They told rescuers the worsening weather caused the speedboat to break apart before thick fog separated them from the captain.

Heriyanto, head of the Gorontalo Province Search and Rescue Office, said the captain is believed to have remained aboard as the vessel sank.

The speedboat had departed Tojo Unauna on Friday morning bound for Marisa Port in neighbouring Gorontalo province but failed to arrive.

A local guide raised the alarm after the boat did not reach its destination that afternoon.

"We will continue the search and rescue operation for up to seven days to find him," Heriyanto said.

Search teams are scouring around 300 square nautical miles of Tomini Bay, deploying thermal-imaging drones and dive teams in an effort to locate the missing captain.

Thermal-imaging drone technology and diving equipment are also being utilised in the ongoing effort to locate the missing captain.

Indonesia comprises more than 17,000 islands, making boats an essential mode of transport across the sprawling archipelago.

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Maritime accidents occur with troubling regularity in the country, driven by poor safety standards and persistent overcrowding on vessels.

The Sulawesi incident follows another recent tragedy in which a passenger boat carrying 76 people went down off Selayar Island.

That sinking claimed at least four lives, with a further 14 people still unaccounted for, among them a boy aged 10.

And in the Caribbean, the MV Barima - a passenger and cargo vessel - sank off the coast of Guyana on last week, in what has been described as the country's worst maritime disaster in history.

In a press conference on Monday evening, Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips confirmed that authorities have now recovered the bodies of 27 people.

It is understood that at least four of the recovered bodies are children.

The Guyanese Government said on Sunday that 67 people have been rescued so far.

Mr Phillips said the location of the sunken vessel has been identified and the rescue operation remains ongoing.

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