Over 70 feared dead as ship sinks<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Five passengers of an ill-fated ferry were confirmed dead and
\nsome 70 others were feared drowned off Ambon, officials said on
\nMonday as rescue workers and volunteers continued searching for
\nthe dead and missing.<\/p>\n
The ship, The Masohi Star, which was packed with passengers
\nhomeward bound for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan, sank
\njust 500 meters off the Ambon coast only 15 minutes after leaving
\nSlamet Riyadi port late on Sunday. The vessel was headed for the
\ntown of Masohi on Seram Island.<\/p>\n
A total of 117 passengers survived the disaster.<\/p>\n
An adviser to the Maluku provincial administration, Lt. Col.
\nMarten Luther Djari, said five bodies had been recovered so far,
\nwhile many dozens were reported missing and presumed dead.<\/p>\n
Police were questioning the skipper of the boat, which was
\nreportedly returning to port to reduce its load when it went
\ndown, Marten said as quoted by AFP.<\/p>\n
So far, no one has been declared a suspect in the incident.<\/p>\n
According to Marten, the Masohi Star had a capacity of 180
\npassengers. Although 104 people had tickets and boarded the
\nvessel, a preliminary count indicated there were about 200 people
\naboard, Marten said.<\/p>\n
Officials were still trying to confirm the actual number of
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
Outgoing Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina visited injured
\nsurvivors being treated in the Latumeten Military Hospital and
\nAl-Fattah Hospital in the early hours of Monday.<\/p>\n
Saleh comforted the victims, who were mostly women and
\nchildren. He instructed the local Navy unit and residents living
\nnear the coast to do their best to search for survivors.<\/p>\n
\"The ongoing search and evacuation are a must because there
\nare probably (bodies of) passengers that can be recovered,\" Saleh
\ntold reporters during the impromptu visit.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that a flotilla of search vessels, comprising
\nthree Indonesian Navy ships, and dozens of motorboats and
\nspeedboats belonging to local fishermen, had set sail to locate
\nthe dead and missing.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the incident on Sunday, 117 survivors were
\nrescued by local fishermen. Witnesses said dozens of others swam
\nashore.<\/p>\n
Navy divers were also deployed to search for bodies in the
\nDalam Gulf.<\/p>\n
The commander of the Ambon Naval Fleet, Col. Buyung Lalana,
\nwho led the search operation, said the search teams had
\ndifficulty in locating and rescuing the survivors due to a lack
\nof equipment.<\/p>\n
\"The equipment that our divers has only allows them to go as
\ndeep as 40 meters, while the water where the ship sank is 100
\nmeters deep,\" he said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Buyung expressed the hope that the port administrator could
\ncall out larger fishing vessels to help with the search.<\/p>\n
\"If their anchors can make contact with the sunken wooden
\nvessel, the passengers who are trapped inside could float to the
\nsurface.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Ambon branch of state-owned insurance company
\nJasa Raharja said they would pay compensation to the victims as
\nthe owner of the ship, PT Sumber Rejeki, was insured up to Nov.
\n8.<\/p>\n
Shipping accidents are common in Indonesia, a vast archipelago
\nwhere much traveling is done by boat. Safety regulations are
\noften poorly enforced and ship owners frequently claim they are
\nunable to afford maintenance and repairs.<\/p>",
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