Indonesian rescue teams on Monday reduced the scale of their search for 17 people still unaccounted for after a ferry sank near the island of Bali earlier this month, an official confirmed.
The ferry, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, was carrying 65 people when it sank almost 30 minutes after leaving East Java province’s Banyuwangi port to Bali on July 3.
The ferry was bound for the holiday island of Bali on Wednesday night.
As of Monday afternoon, 18 people were confirmed dead with 30 survivors, Ribut Eko Suyatno, an official at Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said.
Twenty-nine passengers were rescued on Thursday before the search was called off due to poor visibility.
Rescue operations resumed on Friday in the waters of Bali Strait involving ships, helicopters, and hundreds of rescuers, Suyatno said.
All passengers were Indonesian except for one Malaysian who was among the fatalities, local media reported.
Search For The Missing
The national-level search, which lasted for around two weeks and involved around 500 people, including rescuers, police, and military personnel, was officially called off on Monday.
A provincial-level team will continue to search for the missing people for the next seven days, Suyatno said.
“After today, the East Java search agency will search for the missing. Around 100 personnel will be involved,” Suyatno said.
The rescuers over the weekend located the wreck of KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya which was also carrying 22 vehicles.
Officials are now preparing to recover the wreck, Suyatno added.
Based on the preliminary reports by Indonesia’s Transportation Safety Committee, the ferry sank because seawater entered the engine room after its door opened, local media reported.
The ferry began tilting and then sinking, the committee said, adding that it was still investigating the main cause of the incident.
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)
