Frightening journey to Putri island

Last month I made a weekend trip to Putri island. The island experience was not what I expected as the level of transportation, service, food and rooms left a lot to be desired. However, the worst part of the journey was the trip back from the island. It was very stormy and boats coming back from the island could be seen rising and falling in the swells. The boat's hydraulic steering system broke down and the boat was soon being tossed about in heavy seas.

The crew tried to fix the problem, but at no stage informed the passengers what was happening or what they should do. The captain appeared at a loss himself. The situation got so serious that many of the passengers began to put on life jackets on their own accord. It became apparent that there were not enough life jackets for all the passengers and many of the life jackets were of poor or substandard quality. This was especially so for children.

The boat drifted toward coral reefs in high waves and the crew seemed unable to manage the situation, and abandoning the boat in heavy seas appeared likely. In the end, they manage to get the boat to one of the nearby fishing islands where a very dangerous maneuver to get passengers off the boat and on to the island's jetty in high swells was undertaken.

Passengers were literally pulled from the boat one at a time to the jetty. Nobody appeared to be in charge and the passengers were left to rely on the kindness of the local people for water and the use of toilets. Confusion was the order of the day and many passengers continued to be physically sick even on land.

An hour later another boat arrived to take everybody back to Jakarta, but on the way it ran dangerously short of fuel and half spare canisters had to be found quickly from the bilges to top up the engines. It was an extremely scary and dangerous experience for all concerned. On arrival at the port no representative of Putri island was there to assist, apologize or explain and many items belonging to the passengers were missing. So overall the trip was dangerous, mishandled and frightening for all concerned, and to add insult to injury personal items went missing. Putri management has a lot to learn about safety and client service.

LALA MALIKOVA

Jakarta