18-month-baby found at bottom of capsized ferry

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A day after a ferry capsized in the Bali strait, the National Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency on Saturday, March 5, found 4 passengers dead at the bottom of the vessel – including an 18-month-old baby and the baby’s mother.

Banyuwangi regent Abdullah Azwar Anas, who participated in monitoring the evacuation, said the mother was embracing her baby when they were found.

The Rafelia II, the ferry which sank Friday in the waters of Ketapang, Banyuwangi, East Java, was traveling from Gilimanuk port in Bali to Banyuwangi on Java island. 

Chief of the National Rescue Organization (Basarnas), F Henry Bambang Soelistyo, identified the 4 victims as:

1. Bambang (helmsman)
2. Masruro (28 years old, mother from Olehsari village, district Glagah)
3. M Ramlah (18 months old, baby Olehsari village, district Glagah)
4. The truck driver (unnamed)

“We managed to lift 4 bodies from the bottom of the boat. The evacuation team consists of sea water police and Basarnas,” Soelistyo told Rappler by telephone.

He also said 4 of the 5 motor boats carrying passengers were rescued.

As of publication time, the one other helmsman has yet to be found by rescuers. Soelistyo also clarified the number of passengers who were reported missing was 4, but should have been 5 – to account for the other helmsman.

Head of Communications Officer for Indonesian Navy’s East Region, Lieutenant Colonel Maman Sulaiman, said the ship was carrying 67 passengers and crew, and 25 units of vehicles consisting of 2 large trucks, one pickup, 4 heavy trucks, 18 regular-sized trucks and 4 small vehicles.

The boat departed from the pier at 12:30 pm and sank less than an hour later at about 1:09 pm, just behind the Beach Hotel in Banyuwangi.

Licenses removed

After the sinking of the Rafelia II, the Transportation Ministry (MoT) revoked the operating permits owned by PT Darma Bahari Utama. Head of Communications Ministry of Transportation, JA Barata justified the revocation of the license.

“Probably it will take effect on Monday,” Barata told Rappler over the phone.

In addition to revoking operating licenses, PT Darma Bahari Utama is also required to remove the wreck.

Barata said that 5 people from the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) were at the scene to investigate the cause of the sinking although he said “it is too early to conclude the cause.”

MoT also deployed teams to evacuate the dead.

“MoT deployed Marine and Coastal Ships Unity Guard (KPLP) namely KN Cundumanik and KN Krantin to help with the evacuation process. Meanwhile, ship navigation class I from Surabaya District, KN Prajapati, has been deployed to the scene to carry out tagging locations,” said the Ministry of Transportation in its Twitter account.

Victims who were hospitalized will be given compensation by insurance company Asuransi Jasaraharja Putra.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on ferry services but the industry has a poor safety record and fatal accidents are common. – Rappler.com