Dozens missing in recent boat accidents

Dozens missing in recent boat accidents

The Jakarta Post, Lampung/Kupang/Kendari

A cargo ship carrying timber apparently capsized, perhaps a week
ago, in the waters off southeastern Sumatra, some 100 kilometers
east of Bandarlampung, and was just spotted on Wednesday, but its
crew of six remain missing, an official disclosed on Thursday.

At least two other boating mishaps occurred recently in
distant corners of the archipelago.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Puthut Prayogi, the chief of the Search and
Rescue Team (SAR) in Lampung, said that his team had been looking
for the victims since Wednesday when the first sightings of the
wreckage were reported by a fisherman, but none had been found as
of Thursday afternoon.

The team had been able to locate the wreckage of the 50-foot
Indonesia Indah boat, which was not equipped with a radio or
other communication devices, off Mundu island, which is part of
South Lampung regency, approximately 10 kilometers from where the
boat was estimated to have been when it was first pounded by a
storm.

Puthut, who is also the director of Air and Water Police
Section at the Lampung provincial police, surmised that the
accident occurred about a week after the boat departed from
Mesuji district, Tulangbawang regency this is not on any maps on
its way to Karangantu port in Banten province.

The ill-fated boat was reportedly carrying tons of meranti
logs -- a very high quality mahogany-like wood, used chiefly for
furniture, plywood and construction -- to Java.

When it was found, the boat was heavily damaged and all its
cargo was gone. He said that the SAR team would continue
searching for any remains of the crew for at least two or three
more days.

Haji Langge, the owner of the boat, said it was loaded with 50
cubic meters of meranti and manned by six crew members. It
embarked from Mesuji port in Tulangbawang on June 16.

"Apparently, the boat was hit by a storm, so it capsized," he
assumed.

Adi, 45, a local fisherman, acknowledged that he found on
Tuesday the severely damaged boat but there was no sign of the
crew or the cargo.

He speculated that the boat could have ran into trouble last
Friday night when there was a big storm. "Due to the bad weather,
all of us local fishermen were prevented from going out to fish
that night," he said.

An activist at a non-governmental organization (NGO) Joko
Santoso explained that dozens of boats carrying illegal logs
sailed everyday in Indonesia's waters, and particularly in the
Sunda Strait off southeastern Sumatra where the accident
happened.

But, he admitted that he had no way of knowing whether the
Indonesia Indah was carrying illegal logs.

Meanwhile, a similar accident also happened in Southeast
Sulawesi province. Local authorities in Kendari declared on
Thursday that a cargo boat went missing in the waters off
Wakatobi regency in the province.

The Katili boat was sailing from Wanci port in Wakatobi
regency on Tuesday, but it disappeared on its way to Wawonii
island, also in the province. Rocky Asikin, the chief of Search
and Rescue Team in Kendari, said that he got the preliminary
report from Maila, the owner of the ship. But, Rocky did not know
exactly how many people were on board.

Separately, a patrol ship, allegedly an Australian Navy ship,
smashed into a fishing boat belonging to Indonesian fishermen,
severely damaging the boat.

The collision occurred in the Timor Sea south of Kupang on
Tuesday last week, according to Lt. Col. S. S. Asmara, the chief
of Navy's Kupang Naval Base on Thursday. No fatalities were
reported among the nine crew members aboard. The fishermen
believed the ship that hit their boat was an Australian Navy ship
as it had a steel hull and an Australian flag on it.