2LT International News

JAKARTA, Indonesia – In yet another boat tragedy in Indonesia, a ferry carrying about 139 passengers, sank off the coast of Sulawesi island, killing 31 of them.

Authorities revealed that passengers remained trapped on the stricken ferry off the Indonesian island for an entire night, and were rescued early on Wednesday. 

The incident involved a 48.5 meter 159 foot long Sulawesi ferry and officials said that its manifest noted that it was carrying 139 passengers.

Local authorities said that the ferry began sinking in rough seas on Tuesday afternoon and that the vessel’s captain managed to steer the boat toward shore in a desperate bid to save lives. 

The captain reportedly managed to ground the boat between 200-300 meters from land. 

In a statement issued to the media, Agus Purnomo, Indonesia’s director-general of sea transportation said that people trapped on the ferry overnight were rescued early on Wednesday.

According to Purnomo, the death toll rose to 31 and three people were still missing.

Authorities believe that the three people drowned inside the vessel, that was said to be carrying several dozen vehicles including a bus and trucks to Selayar island.

The statement further noted that the captain and the boat owner were the last two people to leave the vessel.

Speaking to reporters, Amiruddin, chief of the South Sulawesi search and rescue agency, said that there were 164 people on the vessel including crew members and that 130 of them had survived.

He added, “We are still searching for three others who we strongly believe are still inside the ship.”

The country’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency released photos on Tuesday, which showed passengers clinging to the listing vessel as others descended into the heavy seas using ropes hung over its side. 

Most of the people seen in the photos appeared to be wearing lifejackets.

The captain’s efforts to save lives was credited by Purnomo. 

Last month, Indonesia witnessed its deadliest maritime disasters, in which a wooden ferry capsized and sank in the world’s deepest volcanic lakes, Lake Toba on the Sumatra island.

All 192 people that were onboard the overcrowded vessel were presumed dead.

Authorities, who had launched a two-week search and rescue effort, located the vessel at a depth of 450 metres (1,500 ft) with victims trapped inside.

With travelling on a boat or a ship being the most common way of transportation in the archipelagic nation which has over 17,000 islands, Indonesia often suffers frequent boat incidents.

In most of the cases, lack of safety standards and overcrowding often causes boat incidents.

Weak enforcement of regulations too is often blamed for deadly maritime incidents.