Eko Toniansyah, 25, lost his father when the ferry went down. He told Reuters the vessel started tilting without warning, and the passengers, panicking, scrambled for life vests.
The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank late on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, almost half an hour after it left Banyuwangi port in East Java for Bali. Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said 65 people were on board: 53 passengers and 12 crew, along with 22 vehicles. The transport ministry said the ship was rated for 67 people and 25 vehicles, and that every passenger was Indonesian.
A swaying ship, then the jump
Another survivor, 52-year-old Bejo Santoso, described strong waves that set the ferry swaying around 30 minutes out of port. As it began to go under, he said, dozens of people got ready to jump.
By Thursday, six people were confirmed dead and 29 had been pulled alive from the water. Reuters put the number still missing at 30. Nanang Sigit, head of East Java’s rescue agency, told the news agency that the search had been halted on Thursday evening because of poor visibility. Strong currents and wind had already slowed the work through the day. Video from the national agency Basarnas showed what looked like the body of one person being carried ashore from a fishing boat in calm seas.
Sigit said the operation would restart on Friday morning with more than 160 rescuers, among them police and military personnel, backed by four vessels and several helicopters. On Friday, Anadolu, citing the state-run Antara news agency, reported that the search had resumed and that the agency had widened its area to look for missing passengers and crew.
A familiar kind of accident
Ferries are an everyday way to travel across Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Accidents are common, Reuters noted, because lax safety standards often let vessels run overloaded and without adequate life-saving equipment. In 2023 a small ferry capsized near Sulawesi island and at least 15 people died.
For the families waiting at the shore, the numbers had not settled. Six confirmed dead, 29 rescued, about 30 unaccounted for.
Sources
- Six dead, dozens missing after ferry sinks near Bali as search halted | SBS News
- Indonesia continues search for 30 missing passengers after ferry capsizes near Bali
