Bali ferry tragedy: 4 dead, 38 missing after boat sinks near Indonesia

At least four people have died and dozens remain missing after a ferry sank en route to the resort island of Bali, local authorities said Thursday. So far, 23 survivors have been rescued from the water.

The vessel, carrying 65 passengers, sank before midnight Wednesday as it sailed from Banyuwangi in East Java to Bali’s northern coast. “23 rescued, 4 dead,” Rama Samtama Putra, police chief of Banyuwangi, told AFP.

President Prabowo Subianto, currently on a trip to Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response, according to cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. The accident was attributed to bad weather.

Earlier, the Surabaya search and rescue agency reported 61 missing and four rescued but did not specify a cause. The agency said the ferry, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, sank about 25 minutes after weighing anchor.

The ferry’s manifest listed 53 passengers and 12 crew members, along with 22 vehicles including 14 trucks. However, officials are investigating if the actual number onboard may have been higher, a common occurrence in Indonesia where passenger counts often exceed official records.

Four people managed to save themselves using a lifeboat and were found in the water in the early hours of Thursday. Rescue teams immediately deployed inflatable boats and dispatched a larger vessel from Surabaya to assist in the ongoing search operations.

Marine accidents are common in Indonesia’s vast archipelago of over 17,000 islands, often attributed to lax safety regulations and adverse weather. Recent incidents include a March boat capsize near Bali that killed an Australian tourist, a ferry grounding with over 800 passengers in 2022, and a 2018 ferry disaster on Sumatra island that claimed more than 150 lives.

At this stage, it is unclear if any foreigners were aboard the ferry when it sank.