A fire broke out aboard the passenger ferry KMP Batumandi as it approached Merak Port in Indonesia’s Banten province on Tuesday, prompting a mass evacuation that saw everyone on board rescued without loss of life. The vessel had been crossing the Sunda Strait from Bakauheni, Lampung, when smoke and then flames spread through the ship.
Six passengers were injured, three of them seriously enough to require intensive care, but authorities reported no deaths among the hundreds on board. Operator ASDP Indonesia Ferry said it is awaiting the findings of an official investigation by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee, known as KNKT, into the cause of the blaze.
Fire Erupts on Approach to Merak
The KMP Batumandi had left Bakauheni Port on the southern tip of Sumatra at about 2:52 p.m. local time before crew and shore staff spotted smoke near the stern roughly two hours into the crossing. The vessel was entering the channel at Merak, the Java-side terminus of one of Indonesia’s busiest ferry corridors, when the fire took hold. Passengers reported hearing a small explosion shortly after smoke was first noticed, followed by flames that spread toward the bow.
The fire ultimately burned forward through the ship’s wheelhouse before firefighting tugboats brought it under control. Initial findings suggested the blaze may have originated on an upper deck used to stow smaller vehicles, though the exact cause remains under review. Merak is a major port connecting Java and Sumatra across the Sunda Strait, one of Indonesia’s busiest ferry routes, carrying heavy volumes of commercial and passenger traffic daily.
Fishermen Lead Spontaneous Rescue
With the ferry carrying several hundred people, evacuation relied heavily on a rapid, improvised response from the local fishing fleet rather than official rescue vessels alone. Passengers escaped by lowering themselves on ropes, climbing over railings or jumping directly into the water, many without waiting to secure life jackets. Dozens of small fishing boats converged on the scene and maneuvered alongside the burning ferry to pull survivors to safety.
A fisherman identified as Eka told the newspaper Kompas that “one boat can carry 10 to 14 people, depending on capacity,” describing how some evacuees were ferried directly to the pier while others were relayed to larger vessels anchored nearby so smaller boats could return for more survivors. The coordinated effort by harbor fishermen has been credited with preventing a far more serious casualty toll given the scale of the fire.
Latest in a String of Ferry Casualties
The Batumandi fire is the latest in a series of serious ferry incidents to strike Indonesian and wider Southeast Asian waters in recent months. On September 13, the ferry Virgo Transport 8 capsized in bad weather in the Java Sea; of 243 people aboard, 80 have been confirmed dead and 55 remain missing, with salvage plans aimed at raising the wreck to recover further remains. In early August, a fire aboard the ferry Mutiara Sentosa 2 traveling from Surabaya to Makassar killed at least five people and left dozens unaccounted for among 271 passengers and crew.
Indonesia’s vast archipelago depends heavily on ferries to move people and cargo between islands, and the Sunda Strait crossing between Merak and Bakauheni is among the busiest such links in the country. The repeated incidents have renewed scrutiny of vessel maintenance, fire-safety equipment and crew emergency procedures across the domestic ferry fleet, with KNKT investigations into both the Batumandi and earlier casualties still pending.
Why it matters
The Batumandi fire underscores persistent safety gaps in Southeast Asia’s domestic ferry sector, where aging vessels and high passenger loads on short-sea routes like the Sunda Strait crossing carry significant risk. Coming weeks after the fatal Virgo Transport 8 capsizing and the deadly Mutiara Sentosa 2 fire, the incident adds pressure on Indonesian regulators and operator ASDP Indonesia Ferry to accelerate fleet safety reviews. For global shipping, the pattern highlights the gap between international maritime safety standards applied to ocean-going fleets and the oversight of domestic ferry operations that move millions of passengers annually in developing maritime economies.
Source: The Maritime Executive
