Bali ferry disaster: Search widens for missing after sinking

Rescuers are searching for dozens of people still missing after a ferry sank en route to Bali. Photo / AFP

Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people today after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, leaving at least six dead.

The ferry, carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a 5km crossing from eastern Java to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather on Wednesday night (early Thursday, NZ time), witnesses and officials said.

As of this morning, 29 people had been rescued and 30 were still missing. Rescue officials said one of the six dead was a 3-year-old boy.

Rescuers carried out sea and air searches today, widening their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali.

“The land search rescue unit ... we asked to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Likewise for Gilimanuk,” national search and rescue agency operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno said.

The ferry route from Ketapang port in Java to Gilimanuk port on Bali – one of the busiest crossings in the country – takes about an hour and is often used by people travelling between the islands with a car.

Rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank 25 minutes into its journey. At least 306 rescuers were deployed in today’s search effort.

Inflatable boats, a larger rescue vessel and a helicopter were all deployed yesterday, with rescuers including navy and police officers.

Bad weather

At least four survivors were found early yesterday after they climbed into the ferry’s lifeboat. Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5m 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 the documented number.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, in part because of lax safety standards and sometimes because of 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.

- Agence France-Presse