Lake Toba.


Up to 180 people are now missing or feared dead after a ferry capsized in Indonesia.

The revised figure, which is far more than officials originally estimated, comes after the sinking at a popular lake on Sumatra earlier this week.

Distraught relatives pleaded for a bigger search effort and were outraged at the government’s failure to enforce basic safety measures on passenger boats.

The wooden vessel, overcrowded with passengers as well as dozens of motorbikes, didn't have a manifest.

Disaster officials have several times raised the number of people it was carrying as family members who rushed to Lake Toba in northern Sumatra provided information.

Only 18 survivors have been found — in bad weather within hours of the sinking Monday evening.

https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/06/ ... 80-missing

I've taken many ferries to and from Samosir, Lake Toba as well as the local wooden boats to Tomok, and many rusted hulks throughout the Indonesian archipelago over the years wondering if they'll get to their destination. I remember on the way to Komodo once when local fishing boats met ferries on the sea to take passengers to the island, our boat broke down and we sat for hours on the water. Another time from Larantuka to Timor the same.

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:48 pmDistraught relatives pleaded for a bigger search effort and were outraged at the government’s failure to enforce basic safety measures on passenger boats.

The wooden vessel, overcrowded with passengers as well as dozens of motorbikes, didn't have a manifest.

The fact that there are NO basic safety measures is a well-known fact, by both embarking passengers and the general population.

Re manifest, everything is completely ad-hoc, if they had to make a manifest, the ferry would never leave.