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Cargo Ship Sinks and Boats Grounded in Bad Weather
January 09, 2012

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Bad weather forced ships in the Riau Islands to stay in port as strong winds and high waves lashed the province, and one cargo vessel sank off the coast of Merapas Island early on Saturday morning.

The KM Jhonson had been headed to Batam from Tarempa and sank at around 2 a.m. on Saturday because of high waves and strong winds, East Bintan Police spokesman Dadi said on Saturday night in Tanjungpinang, the provincial capital.

No fatalities were reported, but 10 crewmen were rescued by fishermen from Kelong village five hours after their ship had gone down, Dadi added.

Dadi said that the Jhonson had left Tarempa at 9 p.m .on Friday night and ran into foul weather and high waves.

There was no estimate of the value of the goods lost on the ship, but there were reports that the vessel was not carrying any cargo on its return to Batam.

In another incident, passengers on the Dumai Express 5 ferry from Tanjung Balai Karimun to Batam panicked and put on life vests after the ship ran into high waves on Saturday evening. Water began flooding the deck of the ferry, but the ship made it back to Tanjung Balai Karimun.

“I and some other passengers were on deck because we didn’t get any seats,” Hendri, a passenger, said. “We panicked when we saw the waves wash over onto the deck and we grabbed life vests. The waves were at least two meters high. The ship was rocking wildly.”

The head of security and safety at Tanjung Balai Karimun Port, Muas Effendi, who was on the Dumai Express 5, said port authorities instructed the vessel to return to port and canceled any further trips until the following day.

Dumai Express representative Hartono said on Saturday that his firm was going to provide meals to its passengers and allow them to sleep on board the ship or in the waiting rooms.

However, he said the company would not cover the expenses for passengers who chose to sleep in hotels and denied reports that the vessel had been overcrowded.

In 2009, the Dumai Express 10 sank in poor weather, resulting in the deaths of 40 of the 295 people on board.

Poor weather hit several key ports across the country. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Serang, Banten, forecast that waves off Lebak district would reach up to two meters over the weekend.

Sea winds off Banten were also expected to have reached 24 kilometers per hour.

Halim from the BMKG warned fishermen from the small coastal villages dotting Banten to take extra precautions when going out to sea.

He added that the BMKG had advised weekend visitors to the area’s popular beaches against swimming.

The BMKG had also passed on its warnings to the provincial administration, fishermen and harbor authorities. Antara