Djunaidi, the provincial search and rescue agency head of Indonesia, informed that 25 individuals had been missing since last Thursday when their boat reportedly sunk in the Makassar Strait in South Sulawesi province. Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that survivors of the Indonesian have been rescued by local fishermen, leaving 11 people still missing.
The ferry was carrying 42 people when it capsized after running out of fuel in bad weather in the Makassar Strait. Djunaidi has reported that the search and rescue agency got some new information about the sunken boat’s location on Saturday and dispatched crew members to the area. The captain and other crew of the cargo vessel, were among those rescued Monday.
The vessel was initially described as a passenger ferry, but Djunaidi later clarified that it was a cargo boat carrying construction materials. Thirty-six passengers had asked for a ride on the boat with its six crew members.
Ferry tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where ferries are often used for transport and safety regulations are often disregarded.
In 2018, an overcrowded ferry with about 200 people on board sank in a deep volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people.