The KM Feronia, a pinisi schooner carrying tourists, capsized and sank off Tatawa Besar island in Komodo National Park.
Of the 30 people on board, 29 were rescued, and three injured foreign tourists are being treated in Labuan Bajo. Divers are searching for a 23-year-old Indonesian woman: when the boat went down, she was in a locked toilet and may have remained inside the vessel.
On the morning of 13 October, the pinisi left the Labuan Bajo marina for Rinca Island, and on the way the tourists got to dive at Manta Point. On the way back, near Tatawa Besar, the boat was caught in a whirlpool, spun around and tipped onto its port side.
People jumped into the water and climbed onto an inflatable raft. Two passing speedboats were the first to pick them up, followed by search and rescue boats.
The search was suspended at nightfall and resumed on Wednesday morning. 16 divers are searching underwater: rescuers, navy personnel, eight divers from the local association of professional divers and four of the missing woman's friends.
The water surface is also being combed. Strong currents at the site of the sinking are hampering the work.
Labuan Bajo police are investigating whether the crew was at fault. Besides the current, investigators are looking at the design of the vessel itself: the Feronia has a short, narrow hull and a tall superstructure, and a boat like that could have lost stability in a whirlpool. Police plan to question the captain, the chief engineer, three deckhands, the agent and the owner.
This is not the first time a pinisi has sunk off Komodo. In late December, a boat carrying tourists from Spain sank in high waves off Padar Island, and there were fatalities.
After that accident, tourist boats around Komodo were banned from sailing after dark: they are now required to anchor for the night.
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