Vietnam Cargo Ship Sinks, 22 Dead: Shipping Firm

Jakarta Globe, December30, 2011

This picture taken on May 10, 2011 shows the Vinaline Queen cargo ship
 anchored at Saigon port in Ho Chi Minh City. A Vietnamese cargo boat that
 vanished near the Philippines on Christmas Day has sunk, killing 22 of its 23
crew members, Vietnam state shipping firm Vinalines said on Friday. (AFP Photo)   

    

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Hanoi. AVietnamese cargo boat that vanished near the Philippines on Christmas Day hassunk, killing 22 of its 23 crew members, Vietnam state shipping firm Vinalinessaid on Friday.

“Accordingto our initial information, only one sailor has been rescued and the vessel hasnot been found yet,” a Vinalines official based in Hanoi told AFP, asking notto be named.

TheVinalines Queen disappeared after passing Luzon island and apparently did notsend out a distress signal.

Late onFriday online newspaper Dan Tri reported that the surviving sailor, Dau NgocHung, was rescued by a British ship which was heading towards Singapore.

Vinalinessaid its ship was carrying more than 54,000 tonnes of nickel ore and wastravelling from Indonesia to China when it lost contact.

Vietnamappealed to the Philippines, Taiwan and Japanese coastguards for help infinding the vessel, but had heard nothing from the ship until now.

“We are nowfocussing our efforts on searching for the Vinalines Queen,” the companyofficial added.

Rescueexperts quoted in the local press said emergency equipment in the vessel shouldhave automatically sent SOS signals to satellites and coastal rescue stations.It is not yet clear why none was transmitted.

TheJapanese-built 190 meter Vinalines Queen was one of the largest and most moderncargo ships in the Vietnamese fleet, with a capacity of more than 56,000tonnes. It had been in service for Vinalines since 2005.

VietnamNational Shipping Lines, or Vinalines, is one of the communist country’s mainstate-owned enterprises.

Agence France-Presse

Russia oil rig capsizes off Sakhalin, dozens missing

BBC News, 18December 2011

RelatedStories

•  Russia country profile

The Kolskaya was built in 1985

At leastfour people have died and about 50 are missing after an oil drilling rig sankin freezing seas in the Russian far east.

TheKolskaya rig was being towed some 200km (125 miles) off Sakhalin island when itcapsized in a fierce storm.

Fourteenpeople have been rescued alive but it is feared the rig overturned before therest of the 67 people on board could escape on to life rafts.

Rescueefforts have been hampered by poor weather conditions.

Helicoptersand a plane helped scour the area amid high winds and waves of up to 12ft (4m)but the search was halted as night fell.

Empty liferafts

"Accordingto reports from the scene of the rescue operation, the Kolskaya platform hassunk completely," the regional head of the emergencies ministry, TaimurazKasayev, told a news briefing. 

Theaccident in temperatures of -17C at around 14:00 local time (0200 GMT) in theSea of Okhotsk happened as the rig was being towed from the eastern peninsulaof Kamchatka to Sakhalin by an icebreaker and a tug.

An unnamedregional emergencies ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency that the rig'sportholes had been "damaged by ice and waves, and water began going intothe vessel".

The crewhad been waiting to be evacuated by helicopter but the platform capsized andsank before they could get to their rescue rafts, he said.

Two out ofthe four life rafts were reportedly found with nobody on board.

Aninvestigation has been launched to decide whether any safety regulations wereviolated transporting the Kolskaya in bad weather.

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Boat with illegal migrants sinks off Indonesia, 300 missing

Reuters, Jakarta, Sat Dec17, 2011

(Reuters) -A boat carrying illegal immigrants heading for Australia sank off the coast ofeast Java in Indonesia and over 300 people were missing with many feared dead,a senior emergency official said.

Only 76people of 380 people on board had been rescued, said Sahrul Arifin, the head ofemergency and logistics at the East Java Disaster Mitigation Center.

He saidstrong waves wrecked the wooden boat about 90 km (56 miles) out to sea lateSaturday night. "Our search and rescue team have begun sweeping the wateraround where the accident took place but we are now sending body bags to thatarea," Arifin said.

He said thepassengers were mainly believed to be illegal migrants from countries includingIran and Afghanistan. Many boat people from the Middle East and Asia useIndonesia as a transit point en route to Australia.

Local TVshowed images of more than a dozen shocked-looking survivors huddled in aclinic in Trenggalek, a town on Java island's southern coast.

Manyeconomic migrants from the Middle East attempt to cross the Indian Ocean inboats in search of a better life in Australia.

Australia-basedrefugee advocate Jack Smit told Reuters first reports indicated the boat wasoverloaded. He suggested it might involve a new and inexperiencedpeople-smuggling operator trying to make money quickly, as the boat reportedlyleft from the same port in Java as another that sank recently.

"Itall points to new operators, and also the population of the boats ischanging," Smit, of Project SafeCom Inc, told Reuters. "It seems tome it's a new operator that took a risk that was too big."

Smit saidthere appeared to be an increasing number of Iranians taking to the boats andfewer Afghans than previously. He estimated that 2 to 5 percent of thousands ofasylum-seekers taking to boats in this way each year died en route, with manydeaths not reported.

Asylum-seekersoften pay thousands of dollars to board the boats, whose journeys are organizedby people-smuggling networks based in Indonesia using ramshackle vessels oftenpoorly equipped for the perilous journey to Australian waters. This sinking isthe latest of several such disasters in recent years.

(Reportingby Olivia Rondonuwu, Additional reporting by Chris McCall in Sydney; Editing byRaju Gopalakrishnan)

17 dead in S. Kalimantan boating incident

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Tue, 06/07/2011

At least 17 people have been reported dead and 15 others remain missing after a packed speed boat sank on Monday in Tanjung Dewa in the South Kalimantan town of Banjarmasin.

A joint team from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the Navy and the National Police, among others, were forced to end their search and rescue efforts on Monday evening because of poor weather conditions in the area.

“The waves are really big at the moment,” a member of the Kotabaru branch of Basarnas, who asked to remain anonymous, told tribunnews.com.

The vessel, Martasiah 2, had been carrying 105 passengers from Port Panjang in Kotabaru and was on its way to Geronggan village in Central Kelumpang district when it was hit by the high waves.

“The weather was very bad. A huge wave hit the right side of the boat. The rudder stopped working, and then the boat started sinking,” said Tarji, a member of the boat's crew, several hours after being rescued.

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Japanese Man Found Alive 15 Kilometers Out to Sea

Jakarta Globe, March 13, 2011

Hiromitsu Shinkawa waves to rescuers as they find the 60-year-old man
floating off the coast of Fukushima's Futaba town on the roof of his house
after being swept away in a tsunami. Picture: AP/Defense Ministry

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A Japanese man who was swept 15 kilometers out to sea by Japan’s deadly tsunami was plucked to safety Sunday after being spotted clinging to a piece of wreckage, officials said.

A Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyer rescued 60-year-old Hiromitsu Shinkawa after discovering him floating on a piece of roof in waters off Fukushima Prefecture, two days after the disaster struck.

The man, from the city of Minamisoma which has been virtually obliterated, was swept out along with his house after the massive tsunami tore into Japan’s northeast following a 8.9-magnitude earthquake on Friday.

He is conscious and in “good condition” after his rescue which took place around 12:40 pm (0340 GMT), ministry officials said, adding that he was transported to hospital by helicopter.

“I ran away after learning that the tsunami was coming,” Shinkawa told rescuers according to Jiji Press.

Hiromitsu Shinkawa, wrapped in a blanket, is lifted to a
Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer following his
rescue on Sunday March 13. Picture: AP/Defense
Ministry

“But I turned back to pick up something at home, when I was washed away. I was rescued while I was hanging to the roof from my house.”

The government has said that at least 1,000 people are believed to have lost their lives in the disaster, and police estimate more than 215,000 people are huddled in emergency shelters.

However, the police chief of badly-hit Miyagi prefecture, which lies north of Fukushima, said that the death toll was certain to exceed 10,000 in his district alone.

Agence France-Presse

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ABC World News, Mar 14, 2011

A four-month-old baby girl is rescued in Ishinomaki, northern Japan, three days the initial tsunami

A Japan Self-Defense Force member reacts after rescuing a four-month-old
baby girl in Ishinomaki, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011, three days
after a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami hit the country’s east coast.
(AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Hiroto Sekiguchi)

A beautiful, and much needed moment of joy.

Indonesian Ferry Fire Kills 11

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis Satriantanti & AFP | January 28, 2011

Port officials carry a ferry fire survivor at port in Merak, Banten province,
Indonesia, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. A transportation ministry spokesman said
the ferry carrying hundreds of passengers has caught fire in Indonesia
early Friday. (AP Photo)

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At least 11 people were killed when a fire broke out on a ferry caught fire traveling between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra overnight, the transportation ministry said Friday.

The ferry caught fire in the Sunda Strait, about three kilometers from the port of Merak at the westernmost tip of Java, at around 3.30am.

"11 people have been killed, and 427 people have survived. We don't know how many people are missing, hopefully there are none,” the transportation ministry's director for maritime passenger services Wiratno said.

The survivors had abandoned the ferry wearing life jackets.

Joko Sulaksono the ministry's directorate general of land transportation said many passengers were transferred to Krakatau Medika hospital in Cilegon near Merak for treatment.

Joko said a vehicle inside the ferry was the suspected source of the fire.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on ferry services but the industry has a poor safety record and fatal accidents are common.

Up to 335 people were killed when a heavily overloaded ferry sank off the island of Sulawesi in January 2009.

4th Singaporean found dead in Malaysia boat mishap

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press | Mon, 12/27/2010

Searchers recovered the body of a fourth Singaporean tourist and were searching for one more missing in Malaysian waters after an overloaded passenger boat capsized near a resort island, police said Monday.

The wooden boat had been transporting 29 people - more than twice its recommended capacity - to a mainland port Sunday after leaving Malaysia's southern Sibu island, one of the diving zones closest to neighboring Singapore.

It capsized after being struck by strong waves, district police chief Mohamad Nor Rashid said. The passengers were not wearing life jackets.

"One minute we were enjoying the holiday and the next wewere struggling for our lives when the boat capsized," Lim Tai Wee, one of nearly 20 Singaporeans aboard, told The Star newspaper. "It was very windy and the waves were hitting the boat hard."

By midday Monday, rescuers had recovered the bodies of three Singaporean men and a woman, and were looking for more missing, Mohamad Nor said. He added that police had detained the boat's Malaysian skipper for questioning.

Boat with 50 passengers capsizes, only 30 rescued

Antara News, Saturday, October 23, 2010

Ende, Flores  (ANTARA News) - Some 30 passengers were rescued but tens of others went missing after the motorboat they were traveling in capsized in the Flores Sea in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) at around 3 on Friday afternoon.

Maumere Naval Base Commander Col Suroso Hadiwiboso said here on Saturday that the ill-fated boat was engulfed by big waves at Cape Watumana on its way from Palue island to Maumere in Sikka district on Flores island.

"The total number of passengers who had been in the boat remains unclear but according to unofficial information it carried more than 50 people when it capsized," Hadiwibowo said, adding that 30 of them were rescued while around 20 others remained missing.

He said as of Saturday morning rescue workers assisted by water police and local fishermen were still searching for the missing passengers of the ill-fated boat.

The boat was reported to have left Palue island at 4 on Friday afternoon for Maumere, but one hour after that it entered rough seas at Cape Watumana and was hit by big waves that caused it to capsize.

Three Indonesians Dead After Boat Sinks in Southern Ocean

Jakarta Globe, August 18, 2010

 The bodies of three Indonesian fishermen have been recovered from the icy Southern Ocean after the South Korean trawler Oyang 70, pictured here in an undated file photo, sank near New Zealand. (Reuters/New Zealand Defense Force/Handout)    
       

Wellington, New Zealand. Three crewmen are missing and three bodies have been pulled from cold southerly waters east of New Zealand after a South Korean fishing boat sank early Wednesday morning, officials said.

Some 45 other crew members — a mix of Korean, Indonesian and Filipino nationals — were rescued and taken aboard a New Zealand vessel that was fishing in the area at the time about 700 kilometers east of South Island.

The ship’s master is among the three crew of the Oyang 70 who have not been found, said New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Mike Roberts.

“We have so far recovered five life rafts but have been advised there was a sixth life raft on board,” he said. “We remain hopeful of locating the three missing men.”

The three recovered bodies were all Indonesian crewmen.

An air force Orion maritime surveillance airplane reached the search area midmorning where six fishing boats were involved in the search effort.

Air Force spokesman Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki said conditions were calm but very cold and low-lying sea fog was blanketing the search area.

New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Center ordered the search after receiving an alert from the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon. Vessels nearby also picked up a mayday call from the stricken vessel.

Roberts said weather conditions did not seem to be a factor in the sinking of the 82-meter fishing factory ship.

“We understand she was trawling, recovering her fishing gear with fish in the nets, and she suddenly capsized and sank within 10 minutes,’’ he told National Radio.

Oyang 70, a 38-year-old vessel registered on the Korean Shipping Registry, is owned by Sajo Oyang Corp., a company incorporated in Korea. Oyang 70 has operated in New Zealand waters since the 1980s under charter to New Zealand-based company Southern Storm (2007) Ltd.

Associated Press

Dozens Feared Dead in Latest Indonesian Ferry Disaster

Jakarta Globe | August 09, 2010

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Kupang, Indonesia. At least 11 people were killed and more than 30 are missing after a passenger boat went down in waters off eastern Indonesia on Monday, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Monday.

“We have found 11 dead bodies and still look for about 32 people that went missing,” National Search and Rescue Agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso said.

The boat set sail carrying about 60 passengers at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday and capsized two hours later off Flores island, in East Nusa Tenggara province, he said.

Local police chief Abdul Rahma Aba said that the inter-island vessel was struck by high waves which caused panic among passengers before it capsized about two miles from shore.

Prakoso said that 17 passengers were found alive and searchers including local fishermen continued to hunt for survivors.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on maritime services but its safety record is poor, and fatal accidents are common.

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

Agence France-Presse

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Eight Cilacap fishermen missing in Indian Ocean

Antara News, Monday, June 21, 2010 15:39 WIB

Cilacap, C Java (ANTARA News) - Eight fishermen from Cilacap, Central Java, have remained missing after their boats capsized in the Indian Oceen at 2 on Friday morning.

"The fishermen were catching fish from two motor boats - the Bali Indah-15 and Putra Jaya-1 - when they were engulfed by big waves," spokesman of the Tanjung Intan Port administration;s sea and ciasr guard unit, Aher Priyatno, said here on Monday.

He said the two ill-fated boats capsized in waters near Cemiring Tengah at the coordinates of 9.40 degrees southern latitude and 109.16 degrees eastern longitude.

After the accident, 5 members of the Bali Indah-15 crew were rescued but five others could not be found.

Of the Putra Jaya-1 crew 8 members were rescued and three others went missing.

"We still don`t know the identities of the eight missing fishermen but rescue teams continue to search for them," Aher Priyatno said.

On a separate occasion, local National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) coordinator Waluyo said his party found it difficult to search for the victims because the location where the accident occurred was far away or about 72 miles from the Cilacap coastline.

Basarnas is an independent agency with national responsibility for conducting search and rescue operations where needed throughout Indonesia.

SAR stops searching for Naval Patrol boat`s wreck

Antara News, Thursday, May 27, 2010 03:48 WIB

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Head of the Tanjungpinang Search and Rescue (SAR) squad Bambang Subagyo said SAR has stopped its search for the wreck of a naval patrol boat along which went down and three passengers were missing in Lingai waters.

"Today we have stopped our search for the naval patrol boat`s wreck and the three missing passengers in Lingai waters," Bambang said here Wednesday night.

The naval patrol boat caught fire and sank in Lingai waters, Anambas islands, on Thursday at 9.30 am local time. It had 22 passengers mostly family welfare personnel on their way to a working visit to Jemaja island from Tarempa.

Nineteen survived but sustaining burns and broken bones, and are still undergoing intensive treatment at a local hospital.

Bambang said that under the operational standard of the National SAR team, the search for a ship wreck and its victims is carried out for seven days.

The 62 to 65 deep waters he said were also a problem to the divers in search for the wreck and missing passengers.