/data/photo/2021/02/25/6037020e6d305.jpeg "The story of the sinking of the Van der Wijck ship, Titanic from Indonesia")
KOMPAS.com – Movie lovers may still remember the story Sinking ship Van der Wijck which aired in 2013.
The film, which tells the story of the love affair between Zainudin and Hayati, attracted the attention of the audience at that time.
However, many people think, if the settings Ship Van der Wijck in the film is only fictional. In fact, ships are actually real and have indeed sailed in Indonesian waters.
Evidence of the ship’s existence was found on a memorial in the yard of the Brondong Fisheries Office, Lamongan.
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Archaeologists from the Center for Conservation of Cultural Heritage of East Java, through a survey of underwater cultural heritage, have also succeeded in identifying the location of the possible sinking point. Kapal Van der Wijck.
So what was Van der Wicjk like in the past?
Quoting kemdikbud.go.id, the Van der Wijck Ship is a luxurious and beautiful passenger ship owned by the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (KPM) company in Rotterdam to serve shipping in Indonesia.
The name Van der Wijck itself comes from the name of the Governor General of the Indies, namely Jonkheer Carel Herman Aart Van Der Wijck who ruled from 1893 to 1899.
This KPM company later became the forerunner of the Indonesian shipping company (PT Pelni).
Book The Decay of SS Van der Wijck tells that the ship sailed from Feyenoord, Rotterdam in 1921 to Indonesia. After that, the ship immediately became a favorite mode of transportation connecting major cities.
However, good fortune did not seem to be on the side of the ship.
In October 1936, Van der Wijck departed from Buleleng, Bali for Surabaya. On arrival in Surabaya, the ship was recorded to be carrying a load of 150 tons of iron and 5 condensers, each weighing 3 tons.
The ship then continued its journey to Semarang, but Van der Wijck actually sank on the way to that next destination.
Launching IDN Times, the Australian newspaper, The Queenslander, which was published on Thursday, October 22, 1936, also reported the sinking of Van der Wijck.
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The newspaper said that the ship suddenly tilted when it was 64 kilometers southwest of Surabaya. After that it only took six minutes for the entire hull to sink.
The Queenslander also wrote about the evacuation process which involved many people, from fishermen, airplane pilots, to Dutch Navy ships.
Unfortunately, this assistance could not save the ship’s passengers. A total of 75 passengers were declared missing. But the captain, Captain Akkerman actually survived the incident.
Also read: 5 Dangerous Seas in the World that Have Recorded the Most Ship Accidents
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if you know surabaya location on the map, you will know that it is impossible for a ship to sink in southwest (land) of surabaya.