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Perama boat sinks off Komodo

somtam2000

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Story this morning of a Perama ferry that sunk off the coast of Komodo overnight. I'm not up on all the details, but you can read reports from people who were on the boat here and here and here.

It seems nobody drowned, but there are some very very wet people, lost bags (and perhaps some stolen gear). Perama (the boat operator) has apparently less than helpful, but it does sound like weather was terrible and that the captain was trying to escape into a sheltered bay, but failed. I'm not sure why they should have been expected to fly all the pax back to Bali as it sounds like it was a Flores - Lombok boat ...

In the last post referenced above you'll see that one of the posters asks after an alternative boat, and when one is suggested (at a considerably higher cost) they scoff at the price. They subsequently took the boat that sunk.

I point this out because it is important to note that maritime safety in Indonesia isn't what it could be and you generally do get what you pay for.

Always, always, always check for life jackets.

#1 Posted: 29/3/2011 - 21:13

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tezza

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Posts: 904

As I have posted elsewhere:

Perama's route is 95% off a lee shore in the dry season = calm sailing. I always thought trips before mid April and after mid October could be iffy from the point of running into rough conditions. I'm gonna put this caveat on my Perama Trip page when I get a chance.

Sad though is Perama's response to helping their customers - although par for the course in Asia.

#2 Posted: 31/3/2011 - 18:35

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