Ship carrying more than 100 people sinks

There are concerns for the safety of more than 100 passengers after a ship lost power in rough waters off an island on Saturday.

Local media earlier reported that it had sunk near the island of Sulawesi.

South Sulawesi police spokesman Frans Barung said that the ship had not sunk, but that port authorities lost contact with the vessel after its engine broke down.

Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, said a team of rescuers was trying to reach the stricken ship. “The ship had 122 people on
board. The team from our headquarters ... all that we have, we are deploying there but we’re facing high waves,” he said.


One local report said the ship had left Kolaka in the Southeast Sulawesi province on Saturday bound for an unspecified destination in South Sulawesi, which lies across the Gulf of Boni.

The reported sinking is the second maritime incident in Indonesia this week. On Wednesday a cargo ship collided with a chemical tanker and sank off western Indonesia.

Six Filipino crewmen remain missing and are feared dead after the incident off Batam island, while six people were rescued.

The collision with the chemical tanker, Stolt Commitment, ripped a large hole in the Danish cargo ship, Thorco Cloud, which caused it to sink.


(Culled from theguardian)