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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Elections & Politics

Ferry accidents highlight weak national safety, lawmaker warns

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A recent ferry fire in Indonesia, KM Mutiara Sentosa II, resulted in at least five deaths and 41 missing individuals.
  • This incident adds to a series of recent maritime accidents, raising concerns about national shipping safety.
  • A parliamentary official urged a comprehensive safety audit of all passenger vessels and operators.

A series of maritime accidents in Indonesian waters has prompted serious concern from parliament, with the latest incident involving the KM Mutiara Sentosa II ferry fire. The blaze, which occurred in the waters north of Madura, has resulted in at least five confirmed deaths and left 41 people missing.

Syaiful Huda, Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), stated that the repeated ferry accidents indicate a fundamental weakness in Indonesia's maritime safety management. "We assess the continuous recurrence of passenger ship accidents in recent times as an indicator of the fragility of maritime safety management in Indonesia. This situation is certainly very concerning, considering Indonesia is an archipelagic nation with high maritime traffic," Huda said.

We assess the continuous recurrence of passenger ship accidents in recent times as an indicator of the fragility of maritime safety management in Indonesia. This situation is certainly very concerning, considering Indonesia is an archipelagic nation with high maritime traffic.

— Syaiful HudaSyaiful Huda, Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the House of Representatives, expressed concern over the repeated ferry accidents.

This incident follows the sinking of the KLM Nurul Salsa in the Selayar Islands, South Sulawesi, on July 26, which claimed four lives and left 14 missing. Huda stressed that the high number of casualties is unacceptable and that the state must guarantee the safety of its citizens using sea transportation. He urged the Ministry of Transportation to conduct a thorough and independent safety audit of all passenger ship fleets and operators in Indonesia. This audit should cover vessel seaworthiness, fire-fighting equipment readiness, evacuation procedure compliance, and verification of passenger manifests.

Huda highlighted a specific issue, noting a discrepancy in the KLM Nurul Salsa case where the manifest listed only 45 passengers, but over 70 were reportedly on board. "We believe this modus operandi occurs frequently and is very dangerous," he added.

We believe this modus operandi occurs frequently and is very dangerous.

— Syaiful HudaSyaiful Huda commented on the potential for falsified passenger manifests in ferry accidents.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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