Indonesian rescuers widen search for the missing after ferry sinks
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GILIMANUK, Indonesia – Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people on July 4 after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali,
The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a 5km crossing from eastern Java Island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late on July 2, witnesses and officials said.
As at the morning of July 4, 30 people were still missing after 29 had been plucked from the water to safety. Rescue officials said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy.
Rescuers deployed assets to carry out searches by sea and air on July 4, widening their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, national search and rescue agency operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters.
“The land search rescue unit... we asked to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Likewise for Gilimanuk,” he said.
The ferry passage from Java’s Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port on Bali – one of the busiest crossings in the country – takes around one hour and is often used by people travelling between the islands with a car.
Local rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya vessel sank 25 minutes into its journey.
At least 306 rescuers were deployed on July 4 for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said.
The search was temporarily halted overnight and had resumed around 8am on July 4 in Bali.
On July 3, rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, a larger rescue vessel and a helicopter to aid the search. Dozens of personnel were involved, including navy and police officers.
Bad weather
At least four survivors were found early on July 3 after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry’s lifeboat.
Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5m and strong winds.
Survivors receiving medical assistance in Gilimanuk Port, Bali, on July 3.
PHOTO: EPA
The ferry’s manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members, but it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from that document.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a South-east Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.
A rescue team conducting a search for missing victims in the waters off the Bali Strait, in Gilimanuk, on July 4.
AFP
In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.
In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra Island. AFP
