Northern Territory Police are continuing to interview Australian Defence Force witnesses to the explosion onboard the vessel intercepted off Ashmore Island on Thursday 16 April 2009.
The process of interviewing survivors from the vessel is expected to commence this week following advice from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
The process of collating witness statements and forensic examination of seized items is well underway in the NT Police Crime Command Operations Centre and Forensic Laboratories at the Peter McAulay Centre in Berrimah.
A team of two NT Police and two Australian Federal Police are at Ashmore Reef to conduct further interviews with Customs and Border Protection personnel and seize any collected debris following the explosion. They are expected to remain at Ashmore Reef for a few days.
Two persons remain missing as confirmed from the initial head count conducted when Australian Defence Force personnel initially boarded the vessel prior to the explosion.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority suspended the search at approximately 6:00pm (AEST) on Thursday 16 April 2009.
The advice received from Customs and Border Protection is that the search operations were conducted in calm seas with good visibility and included two Royal Australian Navy Patrol Boats, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service vessel Ashmore Guardian's two rigid inflatable boats, a Customs and Border Protection Dash 8 and a RAAF P3 search aircraft.
Assets under the control of Border Protection Command, the vessel Ashmore Guardian and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service vessel Storm Bay, continued searching the area on Friday 17 April and in the course of their operations in the area will continue to keep a look out for the missing.
A/Commander Bravos said considering the extensive search, continued look out, the time which has already passed and therefore time spent in water, the two missing persons are presumed deceased.
"Everything has been done to try and find survivors and more recently, recover the bodies. This tragedy continues to unfold as these two people are presumed deceased. Even if they survived the explosion, this length of time and the conditions of the area leave us with no option but to assume the worst.
"Confirmation of their identity and from there, determining who their next of kin are is a matter for NT Police and retrieving this information will rely heavily on information being provided by surviving witnesses.
"Files on these two missing persons in addition to the three persons confirmed deceased will be prepared by NT Police on behalf of the Coroner." A/Commander Bravos concluded.
Post Mortems on the three persons confirmed deceased have been conducted in Darwin and the findings will form part of the files being prepared on behalf of the Coroner. Their identity remains unknown the thus, next of kin yet to be identified and notified.
A/Commander Bravos confirmed the cause of the explosion remains unknown,
"The investigation remains in its preliminary stages and as such, determining the cause of the explosion cannot be confirmed.
"What I can confirm is an impartial and thorough, multi jurisdictional investigation is underway which will not be influenced by speculation. There is also no timeframe placed on a thorough investigation."
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