An Indonesia-registered ferry hit a floating object on the way to Singapore yesterday night, forcing the evacuation of its 97 passengers onboard in the middle of the sea.
According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the “Sea Prince” had hit an unknown object after leaving the Nongsapura ferry terminal in Batam.
51 Singaporeans were part of the rescued.
Luckily for the stranded passengers in the middle of Indonesia waters, ferry operator Batamfast immediately activated two ferries to transfer all the passengers back to the Nongsapura terminal.
All the passengers have been accounted for and the ferry is said to be in stable condition.
A passenger who spoke to Channel NewsAsia noted that the ferry sank slowly in deep waters, and so did the two inflatable boats launched from the vessel, due to the overload. All passengers arrived at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal safely later on.
Photo: alantankenghoe via Flickr
