Natuna, Riau Islands, Aug. 4 -- An Indonesian search and rescue team deployed a helicopter on Tuesday to widen the search for cargo vessel KM Samudra Jaya Kelautan, which lost contact in waters off the Anambas Islands in Riau Islands Province, officials said.

Abdul Rahman, head of the Natuna Search and Rescue Office, said the helicopter was deployed on the second day of the operation to speed up the search across the suspected location of the missing vessel.

"The team conducted aerial surveillance over four search points on a Matak-four search points-Matak route to support the second day of the search operation," Abdul Rahman said.

The aerial search used a Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopter owned by PT Medco Energy International Anambas and o...