Human error seen as cause of sinking ferry in Lombok Strait

Human error seen as cause of sinking ferry in Lombok Strait

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post,
Mataram/Denpasar

The search continued on Monday for people still missing after the
ferry carrying them sank in Lombok Strait on Sunday, while
speculation grew that the accident was the result of human error.

A local legislator Lalu Putrajab said he heard from those who
survived the tragedy that during their journey on the KMP Wimala
Dharma ferry they did not experience strong seas as they were
sleeping soundly before the accident took place.

"The survivors said the sea was relatively calm, so I assume
human error played a key role in this accident," Lalu said,
opposing the accounts of some crew members and survivors earlier
that bad weather had sunk the ferry.

One of the survivors, I Gusti Ngurah Antara, confirmed Lalu's
statement. He told The Jakarta Post many of the people on board
were asleep when the ferry embarked from Padang Bai seaport on
Bali island for Lembar seaport on the neighboring island of
Lombok.

"When the ferry began to sink, a number of passengers were
still asleep," recalled Antara, whose wife Herlina Effendi was
among five people whose bodies had been recovered, not six as
reported earlier.

The ferry, with over 200 people on board, sank at 4.5 nautical
miles off Padang Bai at around 3:30 a.m. Central Indonesia time
or 4:30 a.m. Jakarta time.

Three more people were reported missing on Monday by their
families, bringing the total number of missing passengers to 12.
The missing passengers were identified as Budi, Salidun and AA
Wiradana. Their families believed they were on board the ill-
fated ferry.

Lalu said the West Nusa Tenggara provincial legislature
planned to summon all related parties to clarify the cause of the
accident. Four of five fatalities in the accident were Lombok
residents.

"Based on their accounts we hope to discover what actually
caused the accident and who should take responsibility," Lalu
said.

Separately, the Lembar Port administrator, Mulyono, denied
allegations that the ferry was not seaworthy. He said the
transportation ministry had followed the procedures when it
extended the ferry's license until Sept. 20, 2003.

Meanwhile, some 100 rescue workers, two helicopters and five
ships conducting a joint search for the missing passengers
returned to their bases empty handed.

"Until this afternoon rescue efforts have failed to find any
of the remaining missing passengers, the number of fatalities are
still five and the number of survivors is still 135," the chief
of Padang Bai seaport authority I Made Sudiartha said.

Rescue workers spent a full day conducting an exhaustive
search along the coastline of Lombok Strait while the National
Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) and Navy helicopters flew in and
around the scene of the accident in the area of 80 degrees
latitude south and 115 degrees longitude east.

The search, according to the chief of Denpasar SAR I Ketut
Parwa, would continue for four more days.

"That's the agreement between the chief of the National SAR
Agency Rear Admiral Yayun Riyanto with the Directorate General of
Sea Transportation," Parwa said.

Unless significant progress is made, the search will be
temporarily halted on the fifth day.

"However, the operation will resume once we come across the
signs of the missing passengers," he said.

Navy ships KRI Nuku, KRI Setiadi and KRI Pandangan are
expected to arrive on Tuesday to assist in the search.