Indonesian rescue teams continued efforts on Friday to locate 30 people still missing at sea, around 35 hours after a ferry sank, killing at least six, officials said. Rescuers are facing strong currents as they press on with the search operation.
The ferry named KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya was carrying 65 people, all Indonesians, when it sank about 30 minutes after setting sail from East Java bound for the holiday island of Bali on Wednesday night, said search and rescue agency official Ribut Eko Suyatno.
Twenty-nine survivors were rescued on Thursday before the search was called off due to poor visibility, Nanang Sigit, the head of East Java rescue agency said, adding that 29 people had been rescued so far.
Dayu Made Silawati, 55, said her husband, Dewa Gede Adyana Putra Usia, was travelling on the ferry to pick up supplies in Bali for his job as a truck driver.
Waiting for news at a rescue centre in Bali, she said the last time she spoke to him was on Wednesday night.
“I just got on the ship,'” she recalled him saying. “I said to him, ‘be careful’, dear.”
At 4 a.m. on Thursday, Silawati said she called him again, and again. There was no answer.
Rescue Operations
Rescue operations resumed on Friday in the waters of Bali Strait involving ships, helicopters, and hundreds of rescuers, Eko said. Strong currents and rain are expected.
Transportation safety investigators would probe the cause of the sinking when the search is over, officials said. The ferry was not overloaded when it went down, officials said on Thursday.
The boat was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members, as well as 22 vehicles, the national agency said. It was rated to carry 67 people and 25 vehicles, according to Indonesia’s transport ministry.
Ferries are a common mode of transportation in Indonesia, a nation of over 17,000 islands, and lax safety standards allow vessels to be overcrowded with inadequate life-saving equipment.
(With inputs from Reuters)
