Search halted for victims in Indonesian ferry disaster

Jan 20, 2009, 8:38 GMT

   Jakarta - Rescuers on Tuesday stopped the search for about 260 people still missing after a ferry sank off Indonesia's West Sulawesi province earlier this month, an official said.

   Thirty-five people were rescued, including the ship's captain, and nine others found dead after the ship sank in stormy seas on January 11 off the port town of Majene, said Colonel Jaka Santosa, a navy officer who led the search operation.

   Santosa said an estimated 262 people were still missing and believed to have gone down with the ship.

   The manifest showed 250 passengers and 17 crew members were on the ship but reports from families and information from the captain indicated the total number of people on board was 306, he said.

   'We believe that those who are still missing sank with the ship. It happened very fast,' he said by telephone.

   The Teratai Prima ferry was en route from Pare-pare on Sulawesi island to Samarinda in East Kalimantan province on Borneo island when the accident happened.

   Police said Monday they had declared the ferry's captain, identified as Sabir, a suspect for negligence that caused loss of life. If found guilty he could face a maximum of five years imprisonment.

   Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said last week there would be an investigation into why the captain set sail despite warnings about bad weather.

   Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia, largely due to poor enforcement of safety regulations and overcrowding. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, depends heavily on ocean transport.

   In December 2006, a ship with 638 people aboard sank off East Java province. Only 230 people survived.