The 'Gurita' ferry lesson<\/p>\n
The sinking of the ferry Gurita happened suddenly and so far
\nthe cause remains uncertain. Was it because of a storm? Did it
\nhit a rock, or -- and this is the most important possible cause
\n-- was it because it was overloaded? The Gurita was an old
\npassenger transportation vessel. In the manifest the number of
\npassengers was stated to be 210 but some observers estimated it
\nto have been at least 300.<\/p>\n
Passenger transport vessels sinking without their exact number
\nof passengers being known appears to have become common in
\nIndonesia. We may remember the case of the sinking of the
\nTampomas II off the Masalembo Islands several years ago, or of
\nthe ferry Trisila Pratama off Bali and the motor vessel Rani in
\nthe waters off southern Morotai not long ago.<\/p>\n
Considering that most of Indonesia's territory consists of
\nseas and that the predominant mode of transportation is by boat,
\nit would be advisable for the Ministry of Transportation and
\nrelated agencies to tighten their control of the seaworthiness of
\nall passenger vessels. It would be most tragic if sea disasters
\ncontinued to happen frequently merely due to the laxness of
\ninspectors, while the majority of victims are people who are
\nignorant about the seaworthiness of vessels.<\/p>\n
-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-gurita-ferry-lesson-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }