Sinking of MV Teratai Prima
The MV Teratai Prima was an Indonesia ferry that sank on January 11, 2009, around 04:00 local time (January 10, 21:00 UTC) in the Makassar Srait, off West Sulawesi. The ferry was making an overnight journey from Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi to Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The report before the sail states that the ship was bringing 250 passengers ad 17 crews at the time of sinking. But many believed that it was bringing more passenger that eventually became one of the cause of the sinking. The accident wasn’t known until some fishermen near Majene found some life jackets floating on the sea. After reported to the port officer, the search of the sinking ship began.
Sinking
Based on the story by one survivor, the ship was hit by big waves (around 4 metre) for two times. The first wave hit the vessel so hard that it turn the vessel unbalanced (around 30 degrees), before another wave hit from different direction that finally caused the ship to sink. Some passenger jumped to the cold sea to save their lives while some others were trapped in lower deck of the ship which only had two small doors for exit.
Survivors
By January 17, 42 people (including the ship’s captain) were believed to have been rescued by the fishermen and searchers. The search effort for the victims and survivor is continued until Tuesday,January 20. The search is troubled by the bad weather in the sea around Majene. Sunaryo, a transport ministry maritime official said “We are facing very bad weather and rough seas. We don’t take any risks by sending small boats”. The slow progress of the search frustrates relatives of the victims who wait anxiously of the development of the accident. Some relatives even hire small boat with their own money to look for survivors or victims themselves. But this has been ineffective considering the nature of the weather around Majene. PT Jasa Raharja, an insurance company responsible for the accident is reportedly paying 25 million rupiah for every death victim.
Investigation
Soon after the accident, KNKT (National Committee for Transport Safety)conduct an investigation to find out the cause of the accident. The bad weather and rough sea condition are said to be the major cause of the accident. BMKG (Bureau of Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophycics) even reported on the day of the accident that the condition was to dangerous for sailing and prohibit any sailing activity around Majene. Another source said that the ship was over capacity as one witness reported that it was bringing near 300 passengers.
Criticism
The accident drew a lot of criticism of the people concerning the safety of public transport in Indonesia due to the high number of accident happen almost every year. Soon after accident the ministry of transportation held a meeting to delegate job of his officials to work together with KNKT to find out exactly the cause of the accident.