Indonesian ferry sinks, 4 die

Four people were killed and another 292 were plucked to safety after an overloaded ferry sank in heavy seas off Indonesia's Sumatra island on Sunday, a maritime official said.

This file photo shows Indonesian ferries in Merak, Java island. A ferry carrying more than 200 people has sank off Indonesia's Sumatra island, possibly due to bad weather, according to police.

Sea transport director-general Sunaryo said the numbers were based on reports from senior officials on Karimun island near Singapore, close to where the ferry went down.

"From the Karimun mayor, 292 people are reported safe and four are dead," he told reporters in Jakarta, adding however that the final death toll had not been confirmed.

"There are two sets of numbers. From the people on the ground there are 209 people who are safe, but the deaths are unknown. I'll go with the 292 people safe because that's from the mayor."

The 147-tonne Dumai Express was sailing from Batam island to Pekanbaru when it went down in high seas at around 10:00 am (0300 GMT) off Karimun, police said.

Fishermen were among the first rescuers on the scene and pulled many of the survivors to safety.

The ship's capacity was only 273 passengers and an investigation is underway to determine if overloading contributed to the accident, Sunaryo said.

"If it was overloaded that's against the rules and we won't tolerate that," he said.

"We will investigate if the ferry was fit to sail and if its documents were complete. We'll also check whether the ship's captain and port master went ahead despite the bad weather or if the weather changed."

Overloading is a common practice on Indonesian ferries, leading to regular disasters despite repeated official promises to tighten and enforce regulations.

Indonesian Navy spokesman Iskandar Sitompul said the vessel sank after being hit by waves as high as three metres (10 feet).

"We're not sure if anyone is trapped in the ferry. Those who have been rescued are traumatised," he said.

Officials were unable to describe precisely how the Dumai Express sank, amid reports that it capsized.

"We don't know how exactly the ship went down or how fast it sank, but the waves were very big and it was a very dangerous situation," transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.

He admitted that it was not uncommon for Indonesian ferries to be overloaded.

"In normal conditions ferries can sail with a bit of over-capacity, but in heavier seas it's not good for stability. We're still investigating the cause of the sinking," he said.

Another ferry travelling from Dumai to Moro island, near to where the Dumai Express sank, ran aground at around 2:00 pm but all 270 people on board were safe, Ervan said.

Indonesia's 234 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and are heavily dependent on a network of ships and boats, which have a poor safety record.

Up to 335 people were killed when a heavily overloaded ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January. In December 2006 a ferry went down in a storm off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people.

Earlier report:

A ferry carrying more than 200 people sank off Indonesia's Sumatra island, possibly due to bad weather, police said Sunday.

The Dumai Express was sailing from Batam island to Pekanbaru in Riau province when it went down at around 10:00 am (0300 GMT) off Karimun island near Singapore, local police official Boy Herlambang told AFP.

"The ship's manifest listed 213 passengers and 13 crew members including the ship's captain," he said. "Right now, many of them are still floating in the water and we're trying to rescue them as quickly as possible.

"The boat sank likely due to heavy rain and big waves and it is difficult to get to them because of bad weather conditions."

A search and rescue team and fishermen have managed to rescue "a number of passengers", sea transport director-general Sunaryo told AFP.

"I'm not able to say how many were missing. Fishermen have rescued 15 passengers. And the rescue team have also managed to give life jackets to those in the water. I believe we will be able to rescue a large number of them," he added.

Sunaryo said the ferry was not overloaded.

"The maximum capacity is 273 people so the ferry was not overloaded. It sank due to very bad weather," he added.

Indonesia's 234 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and are heavily dependent on a network of ships and boats, which have a poor safety record.

Up to 335 people were killed when a ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January. In December 2006 a ferry went down in a storm off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people.