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.