Deadly ferry fire leaves dozens missing in Indonesia’s Java Sea

An Indonesian ferry caught fire at sea on Sunday, resulting in five fatalities and leaving 41 people missing, according to search and rescue officials. The vessel, carrying a total of 225 people, was rescued, with some passengers abandoning ship and being saved by a nearby vessel. Four additional boats remained nearby but were unable to approach the damaged ferry due to the risk of fire, as stated by Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, Basarnas.

The captain had communicated the fire to the ferry company while the ship was en route from Surabaya, in East Java, to Makassar, in South Sulawesi. The captain had not been heard from since, Basarnas reported. Rescue operations were underway, with a larger team en route from Surabaya, a six-hour journey away. Muhammad Masyhud, a senior official at the Ministry of Transportation, emphasized the priority on passenger and crew safety, stating that continuous coordination with relevant parties was underway to ensure a swift, safe, and effective evacuation.

The origin of the fire remains unknown. Ferry accidents are common in Indonesia, a nation comprised of over 17,000 islands, attributed to a combination of lax safety measures and unpredictable weather conditions. In a separate incident last month, a ferry carrying more than 70 individuals capsized near Selayar, an island south of Sulawesi, resulting in at least four deaths and 14 others unaccounted for until the completion of the search operations. Additional reporting was provided by Reuters.