Frightening journey to Putri island

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