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Asia News Network
5 days ago
- General
- Asia News Network
Rescuers to recover wreckage of sunken ferry near Bali
July 15, 2025 JAKARTA – Authorities are working to raise from the seafloor the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya ferry that sank on its way to Bali just before midnight on July 2, after the joint search and rescue team located the wreck of ship on the seabed of the Bali Strait. The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) would coordinate with port authorities and the Transportation Ministry regarding the next stage of victim evacuation and recovery of the shipwreck, the agency's operation deputy Rear Adm. Ribut Eko Suyatno said during a press briefing on Sunday. The operation to recover the wreck had passed the administrative phase, marked by local seaport authorities informing operators about the plan. Tanjung Perak Seaport in Surabaya, East Java, had also notified ships in Ketapang Seaport in Banyuwangi to avoid the last known position of the sunken ferry. After that, relevant agencies would dispatch technical teams to draft a plan to raise the shipwreck. Ribut acknowledged that the operation to recover the wreck would meet several challenges, ranging from weather to the strong current in the strait. 'The surface current is faster than 0.8 [knot]. We tried to send divers under, but they were immediately swept by the current,' the Navy's rear admiral said during a press briefing on Sunday. The Basarnas announced the plan to raise the sunken Tunu Pratama Jaya after search and rescue teams found the vessel during a monitoring operation on Saturday. The wreck was located approximately 3.9 kilometers from the site of the accident by a drone operated by the Indonesian Navy's hydro-oceanographic support vessel KRI Spica. The discovery came after four underwater search attempts, which were hindered by strong currents in the strait. 'We identified the vessel by its name and the lower structure, which matched that of KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya' Second Fleet Sea Combat Task Force (Guspurla) commander Cdre. Endra Hartono said on Sunday. As of Sunday afternoon, 11 days since the sinking, the joint search and rescue team had confirmed 18 fatalities. The vessel sank roughly 30 minutes after leaving Ketapang Port bound for Bali. According to the official manifest, 53 passengers and 12 crew members were on board, but authorities believe the actual number may be higher, as many victims were reportedly not listed. The ferry was also carrying 22 vehicles, including 14 freight trucks. A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) found that the likely cause of the sinking was the crew's failure to close the engine room door before setting out to sea. Investigators had questioned surviving crew and passengers and discovered that seawater first entered the ferry through an open engine room door located on the lower deck. The hatch to the engine room should have remained closed at all times while the ship was sailing. 'We are still investigating whether the vessel was overloaded at the time of the accident,' said Anggiat Pandiangan, acting head of the KNKT Maritime Safety Subcommittee last week. He added that the investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the sinking. The incident has reignited public calls for stricter safety regulations for vessels in the country, which has one of the world's poorest maritime safety records. According to the Allianz Safety and Shipping Review 2025, archipelagic Indonesia ranks among countries with the highest number of ship losses globally.
New Straits Times
05-07-2025
- New Straits Times
Ferry tragedy: Six dead including child, 29 still missing as Indonesian rescuers widen search
GILIMANUK, Indonesia: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered. The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometre (3.2-mile) crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said. As of Friday evening, 29 people were still missing, national search and rescue operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters, confirming the death toll remained at six. He said rescuers confirmed a discrepancy in earlier figures where two survivors were considered to be one person due to similar names on the ferry's manifest. "30 people are safe... 29 people are currently being searched for," Ribut said, lowering the number of missing by one. Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy. Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife. "I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast," Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP late Thursday. "I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived," said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears. "I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away." Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, Ribut told reporters earlier Friday. "The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also 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 Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said. The search for those missing will be suspended Friday evening and resume on Saturday, a Surabaya rescue officer told AFP. The search was temporarily halted overnight Thursday and resumed around 8am (0000 GMT) Friday in Bali. Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers. At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry's lifeboat. Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 metres (8 feet) and strong winds. 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 Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather. 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
Observer
04-07-2025
- General
- Observer
Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks
GILIMANUK: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people on Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered. The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometre crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said. As of Friday evening, 29 people were still missing, national search and rescue operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters, confirming the death toll remained at six. He said rescuers confirmed a discrepancy in earlier figures where two survivors were considered to be one person due to similar names on the ferry's manifest. "30 people are safe... 29 people are currently being searched for," Ribut said, lowering the number of missing by one. Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy. Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife. "I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast," Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, said late on Thursday. "I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived," said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears. "I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away". Members of a marine police unit are seen during the search for missing victims, Bali. — AFP Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, Ribut told reporters earlier on Friday. "The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also 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 Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said. The search for those missing will be suspended on Friday evening and resume on Saturday, a Surabaya rescue officer said. The search was temporarily halted overnight on Thursday and resumed around 8:00 am (00:00 GMT) on Friday in Bali. Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers. At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry's lifeboat. Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 metres and strong winds. 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 Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather. 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
