Indonesia arrests three ferry executives over deadly Java Sea sinking
JAKARTA: Indonesian police have arrested three executives of the company that owned a passenger ferry that sank in the Java Sea last month, killing dozens of people, a spokesman said Thursday.
Indonesian authorities have apprehended three executives from the company that owned a ferry which capsized in the Java Sea earlier this month, resulting in dozens of fatalities, according to a police spokesperson on Thursday. The Virgo Transport 8 ferry was en route to Borneo, carrying 213 passengers and 30 crew members, when it went off the radar following its departure from Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia, on Java island.
The suspects, who were employees of the shipping company that owned and operated the vessel, are charged with negligence, complicity, and aiding in the tragic ship accident, as per the investigation's findings, stated Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, the national police spokesperson. The captain of the ferry was apprehended last month. Despite the search operation having recovered 108 survivors thus far, over 80 people have been officially declared dead.
Maritime accidents are common occurrences in Indonesia, a sprawling Southeast Asian nation comprising more than 17,000 islands that heavily depends on maritime transport for daily life and tourism. Frequently, lax safety regulations and unpredictable weather conditions are cited as the root causes of such incidents.
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