Indonesian ferry carrying 250 passengers sinks

AN INDONESIAN ferry carrying 250 passengers capsized and sank after being battered by a large wave in storms in the country's east yesterday, officials said, adding bad weather and nightfall made rescue efforts difficult.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre, said six deaths had been confirmed in the accident, which occurred early yesterday morning.

Eighteen people including one of the crew had been rescued, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transport Ministry.

"We still don't know the fate of the missing people, whether they had lifejackets on when the ship was hit, and it happened at dawn so most people were probably asleep," Ervan said.

"Based on interviews with the surviving crew member, the ship was hit by a huge wave which caused it to turn upside down."

Ervan said a search and rescue team had been dispatched to look for the missing passengers. Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal said 150 people had been taken off the ferry, but their condition was unknown and he gave no further details.

The discrepancy in the number of possible survivors could not immediately be clarified.

The ferry was travelling from Pare-Pare on the west coast of Sulawesi island to the city of Samarinda on Indonesia's side of Borneo island when it ran into bad weather, said Taufik Bulu, head of maritime safety at Pare-Pare port.

He said the ferry was carrying 250 passengers and 17 crew.

Those rescued were taken to the town of Majene, north of Pare-Pare. Muhammad Junaidi, an official at Majene port, said the ferry was hit by the wave about 60km offshore from Majene and then sank.

Indonesia's Elshinta radio station broadcast the sound of relatives weeping as they waited in Samarinda for news of those who had been aboard the ferry.

Minister Djamal said there had been a tropical cyclone in the area at the time.

Indonesia relies heavily on ferry services to connect the main islands in the archipelago, the world's largest.

But accidents are common, largely due to years of under-investment in infrastructure and a tendency to overload ferries.

The transport ministry's spokesman said the ferry was not overcrowded because it had room to carry up to 300 passengers.

Indonesia has come under pressure in recent years to improve its transport sector following several serious accidents. In December 2006, a ferry with at least 600 people onboard sank during a stormy night as it travelled between Borneo and Java. Some 250 survivors were found in the days after the accident.

A couple of months later at least 42 people were killed when fire broke out aboard a ferry heading from Jakarta to Bangka island off Sumatra.

There have also been several accidents involving Indonesia's domestic airlines, prompting the European Union to ban Indonesian carriers from its airspace.