The 'Gurita' ferry lesson

The 'Gurita' ferry lesson

The sinking of the ferry Gurita happened suddenly and so far
the cause remains uncertain. Was it because of a storm? Did it
hit a rock, or -- and this is the most important possible cause
-- was it because it was overloaded? The Gurita was an old
passenger transportation vessel. In the manifest the number of
passengers was stated to be 210 but some observers estimated it
to have been at least 300.

Passenger transport vessels sinking without their exact number
of passengers being known appears to have become common in
Indonesia. We may remember the case of the sinking of the
Tampomas II off the Masalembo Islands several years ago, or of
the ferry Trisila Pratama off Bali and the motor vessel Rani in
the waters off southern Morotai not long ago.

Considering that most of Indonesia's territory consists of
seas and that the predominant mode of transportation is by boat,
it would be advisable for the Ministry of Transportation and
related agencies to tighten their control of the seaworthiness of
all passenger vessels. It would be most tragic if sea disasters
continued to happen frequently merely due to the laxness of
inspectors, while the majority of victims are people who are
ignorant about the seaworthiness of vessels.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta