One dead, 103 rescued as bad weather hits Indonesia ferry

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One person was killed, and more than 100 were rescued on Sunday after a ferry sailing between the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo was hit by bad weather, rescue officials said.

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The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 passengers and crew, had lost contact with its shipping company early on Sunday after departing from Surabaya in East Java.

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“We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people,” local search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana said.

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One of the passengers had died, he told reporters in the port city of Banjarmasin, where the vessel was headed.

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Rescuers battled waves of up to 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) to reach the ferry, he added.

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“It is extremely risky for vessels. Even our Basarnas vessel, which is 40 metres long, is at great risk,” he said, referring to Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency.

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A Basarnas helicopter has joined the operation, he added.

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Sudayana earlier told AFP that the ship’s captain had reported that the vessel was “tilting” before losing contact.

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The vessel’s last position had been detected in the Java Sea, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) from its destination.

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Heri Purwanto, head of the Banjarmasin Sea Port Authority, said the ship, which was carrying people and vehicles, lost contact at 2:00 am Sunday (1800 GMT Saturday).

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“We responded quickly to the incident report… Our main focus and top priority at this time is the safety of everyone on board the ship, and we are deploying a coordinated rescue operation,” Heri Purwanto added.

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Rescue authorities have put up a command centre at the Banjarmasin port, with paramedics and ambulances on standby, an AFP reporter saw.

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Dozens of relatives and friends of the passengers checked a whiteboard where the names of people rescued were being updated.

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Jenah, 26, told AFP she came to the command post for information about her older brother.

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“I am saddened and very shocked. Until now, I haven’t received any more information,” said Jenah, who like many Indonesians has only one name.

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“He was travelling alone. I hope he survives. I couldn’t contact him since last night.”

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Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia — an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that relies heavily on boat connections for daily transport and tourism.

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Lax safety standards and unpredictable weather are the main reasons for the disasters.

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On Monday, a speedboat carrying eight people, including five journalists working for local and international news agencies, went missing near a volcano, Mount Anak Krakatau, in Banten province and a search is ongoing.

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The journalists were sent to cover the volcano’s eruption that paralysed Jakarta’s main airport and several others.

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Last month, a fire on board a ferry killed one person and left five others missing while 211 were rescued in the Lombok Strait off Indonesia’s Bali island.

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The ferry had been heading from Bali to Lombok when it ran into trouble in the early hours of August 12.

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In July, a ferry transporting more than 70 people sank while sailing near Selayar, a small island south of Sulawesi.

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AFP

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