Bali Drama: Dozens Missing After Vessel Sinks

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Dozens of people were feared dead Thursday after a ferry sank and five people died the previous night near Indonesia’s tropical resort island of Bali.

Authorities confirmed that at least five people were dead following the disaster, adding that at least 29 people were missing, with rescue workers still searching for them.

Amid the tragedy, 35 survivors were brought to safety as part of the rescue operations, which included a helicopter and 15 vessels, backed by fishermen, officials said. Yet many of those rescued were unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours, cautioned Banyuwangi Police Chief Rama Samtama Putra.

The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving Ketapang port in the East Java town of Banyuwangi late Wednesday for a trip of about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to Bali’s Gilimanuk port, authorities said.

Family members arrived at the port in a panic or weeping as they sought information about their loved ones, footage showed. They were confronted with the hard reality.

“The condition of this ship is fully submerged, so there is a possibility that there are people inside the ferry. But right now we are focusing on the surface of the water first,” noted Nanang Sigit, the head of Surabaya Search and Rescue, in published remarks.

The bodies of five discovered victims will be taken to their families in Banyuwangi, at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Sigit added.

WEATHER CONCERNS

Sea and weather conditions were reportedly improving during the morning, aiding the search for survivors.

Strong waves up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and darkness had hampered emergency responders overnight.

While conditions improved Thursday morning, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency warned that waves still reached up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), with strong currents and winds Thursday afternoon.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who is visiting Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response.

He stressed that the cause of the accident was “bad weather”.

However, questions were due to be raised about the safety of shipping.

An officer at the port witnessed the sinking before rescuers could be alerted.

RADIO ISSUES

“The ferry could not be contacted via radio from the beginning. Then it could be contacted by other ships from the same company. But the ship was already in a tilting condition,” Sigit said.

Survivors noted a leak in the engine room of the ferry, which they said was also carrying 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks. “When the ferry started to tilt, I initially intended to jump into the sea, but the ship quickly sank, so I did not jump any more but sank with the water entering the ship, maybe about 7 meters (23 feet) deep, so I immediately climbed up to the top,” recalled Supardi, 64, a survivor.

He said he and three other people grouped in the water and used life jackets to stay afloat. They were among those being rushed to nearby medical facilities, including Jembrana Regional Hospital in Bali.

The latest tragedy came nearly a month after scores of tourists in Indonesia’s province of Bali miraculously survived when their vessel sank on the west coast of Nusa Lembongan, a small island off the coast of Bali but part of the province.

The Tanis vessel, which has a capacity of 125 people, carried a total of 89 passengers when tragedy struck, but everyone was rescued, Worthy News reported last month.

Critics say maritime disasters are a common occurrence in Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands, where lax safety standards often allow vessels to be overloaded without adequate life-saving equipment.

In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. Earlier in 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island, officials said.

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