MV Laut Teduh 2
 MV Laut Teduh 2, the ship involved in the disaster
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Ferguson Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd |
| Launched | 1 December 1988 |
| Completed | March 1989 |
| Acquired | 30 May 1990 |
| Out of service | 28 January 2011 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Caught on fire off the coast of Port of Merak, Banten |
| Status | Scrapped in 2012 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger ferry |
| Tonnage | 4,216 GT, 1,424 NRT, 1,280 DWT |
| Length | 95.8 metres (314 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 15.19 metres (49 ft 10 in) |
| Height | 9.87 metres (32 ft 5 in) |
| Draught | 3.61 metres (11 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power | 10 x Cummins diesel engines model NTA-855G2 2,750 kilowatts (3,690 hp) |
| Propulsion | 4 pcs Azimuth rudder propellers |
| Speed | 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Capacity | 350 passengers, 170 cars |
| Crew | 31 |
MV Laut Teduh II was an Indonesian-flagged double-ended RO/RO passenger ferry that served the route from Port of Merak in Java and Port of Bakauheni in Sumatra, one of the busiest ferry route in Indonesia. She was built in 1988 in England and was registered as Laut Teduh II in 2007.
On the early hours of 28 January 2011, MV Laut Teduh 2 departed Port of Merak, Banten with 454 passengers and crews. She was bound to Port of Bakauheni in Lampung when a fire broke out on the lower deck. The fire originated from a malfunctioning air conditioner system inside a parked bus. Failure to contain the fire caused it to spread rapidly onto the upper deck. Electrical system of the ferry was later destroyed, causing a blackout and hampering the evacuation process. As the fire intensified, the upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck. Several passengers also unfortunately drowned during the disaster.
At least 27 people were killed and another 22 people had to be hospitalized due to the severity of their injuries. More than 240 others were injured in the disaster. It was one of the deadliest Indonesian ferry fire since MV Levina 1. The disaster further highlighted the nation's poor transportation safety record and the poor implementation of safety rules in the country.
Ship information[]
The ship was 95.8 metres (314 ft 4 in) long with a beam of 15.19 metres (49 ft 10 in). Its height was 9.87 metres (32 ft 5 in) tall with a draught of 3.61 metres (11 ft 10 in). She was equipped with 10 pieces of Cummins diesel engines and 4 Schottel azimuth rudder propellers which could propel the ship at 24 knots (44 km/h). Ramps were constructed in the bow and the stern of the ship.[1]
According to the ship's general plan, there were four total decks on the ship; the lower car deck, the upper deck, the third deck and the fourth deck. The lower car deck and the upper deck were both used to accommodate vehicles, while passengers were in the third deck. She was designed to accommodate a total of 350 people. The lower car deck was able to hold a total of 170 cars or 30 trucks in the lower deck and 30 small cars in the upper deck. The crews and the electrical control system were located in the fourth deck.[1]
History[]
MV Laut Teduh 2 was built in 1988 by Ferguson Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd in Palleon Shipyard, located in Sunderland, Tyne And Wear, Northeast England. She was named as Superflex Whisky from March 1989 to May 1990 until she was bought by Mercandia-Linierne I/S, a partnership consisting of Per Søren Henriksen, Rederi & Handelsaktieselskabet Mercandia Enterprise and Mercandia Shipping A/S. She was subsequently registered in Denmark on 30 May and was renamed as Mercandia VII.[2][3]
In 1995, she was sold to Dalian Vivid Dragon Shipping Co. Ltd. and was renamed as DVD No II. The ship was registered under the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flag. She served in Haikou, Hainan from 1995 to 1996. Her name was later changed to Yong Lian from 1997 to 1998 and was changed again to Yong Qian in May 1998 before being renamed again as DVD No II. She was later put up on sale in 2007 and was sold to Bangun Putra Remaja, a company located in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta. She was registered in 2008 and later was renamed as MV Laut Teduh 2. She was assigned to serve the Bakauheni and Merak route.[2][3]
Event[]
Prior to disaster[]
The ship reached Merak at 02:49 a.m local time and the ship's cargo from its previous trip was unloaded by ground crews. As crews unloaded the ship's cargo, passengers boarded the ship and vehicles were brought into the ship's lower car deck and upper deck. The passenger manifest indicated a total of 35 passengers with boarding tickets and hundreds of unaccounted passengers. There were a total of 93 vehicles on board the ship.[1]
As everything was set, the ship was set to sail on 03:19 a.m local time. While several drivers had left their vehicles to go upstairs into the passenger deck, numerous drivers and passengers also decided to stay on their vehicles, as it was more "comfortable". The ship was bound to Bakauheni with an average speed of 6 - 7 knots (11 - 12 km/h).[1]
Start of fire[]
At 03:50 local time, while the ship was 5 nautical miles from Port of Merak, several people on the ship's lower deck noticed that there were fumes inside the deck. They discovered that the smokes were coming out from the inside of a parked bus, at the backside, located in the middle of the deck. Passengers began to shout and warned fellow passengers and drivers who had been sleeping inside their vehicles. In just a few minutes, the lower car deck was engulfed in thick smoke. Panicking drivers were trapped inside the deck as the fire intensified.[4][1]
As the captain of the ship was informed on the ongoing incident, the captain ordered two workers on the ship's workshop, located directly above the fire, to extinguish the flames. Using fire extinguisher, the crews failed to contain the fire and immediately ordered the passengers to evacuate from the burning ferry. The uncontained fire immediately spread into the upper car deck. Crews tried to stop the fire from spreading further, however a large explosion caused the crews to immediately order everyone to abandon the ship.[1]
Due to the growing severity of the fire, the captain immediately made emergency calls to Merak and asked Merak to provide help. As the fire contacted fuels inside the vehicles on the lower car deck and the upper deck, multiple large explosions were heard. The explosions caused further panic among the passengers. Several passengers jumped onto the sea and several others were thrown out from the vessel, as passengers were pushing each other. Crews members tried to inflate several rafts and deployed a lifeboat with 30 people on board.[5][1]
The fire then managed to destroy the ship's electrical system, causing a blackout on the entire ship. As the fire intensified, it melted the plates and supporting beams of the upper deck, causing the upper deck to collapse onto the lower deck. The ship was badly damaged. The fire continued to intensify. The rudders were inoperable and the ship could not be controlled anymore as the fire had destroyed the ship's control system. The ship drifted and it finally ran aground at Anyer Beach. By the time of her grounding, the fire had reached the third deck and the bridge.[1][6]
Evacuation[]
Several other ferries, tugboats and an Indonesian military ship arrived to assist with the rescue operation. At least 11 ferries were deployed to transport passengers from MV Laut Teduh 2 to shore. Tugboats were deployed to comb the area and to search for victims and survivors around the ship. Fireboats immediately assisted the fire-fighting efforts. The main ramps of the ferry were opened and fire-fighters tried to cool the ferry down. Search and rescue personnel were deployed to search additional victims and survivors from the ferry.[1][7]
The fire was fully extinguished on 2 February. As rescue personnel didn't recover any more bodies from the gutted ship and from the waters around it, the rescue operation was ended.[1]
Casualties[]
Officials reported that at least 27 people on board had been killed in the disaster, all of whom were passengers of the ship. At least 14 passengers were killed due to the fire, while the other 13 were killed due to drowning. 25 bodies were transported to Merak, while 2 victims were transported to Bakauheni. Three children were reported to be among the victims.[1]
As many as 427 passengers and crews survived the fire. At least 22 people were badly wounded and 241 people were slightly injured. A total of 53 people were rushed to the hospitals for further treatment. Among the passengers were 33 students and staffs from University of Lampung Nusabakti.[8][9][1]
The fire destroyed the lower car deck and the upper deck. The condition of the vehicles on the lower car deck was much more severe than those on the upper deck. Several vehicles were crushed as the upper deck collapsed due to the intense heat of the fire. Several structures on the ferry had been deformed by the fire. While the third deck and the bridge suffered significant destruction, several parts of the third deck had only suffered slight damages. These areas were the locations in which survivors used as evacuation point. The wind which at the time was blowing to the stern also prevented the fire from spreading to the bow, creating enough time for the passengers to evacuate from the ferry.[1]
Response[]
Vice President Boediono, accompanied with the Minister of Health Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, visited the survivors in Krakatau Hospital.[10][11] He then ordered Freddy Numberi, the Indonesian Minister of Transportation, to revise the standard operating procedures of ferry operations in Indonesia so that it 'won't happen again in the future".[12] The Minister of Health gave operational funds of Rp50 million to assist with the evacuation process and the handling on the injured survivors.[13]
In response to the disaster, the Indonesian People's Representatives Council issued a statement for the central government to enact administrative sanctions on every ferry operators that did not meet with the set of standards. The council also called for further inspection and observation on ferry operations throughout Indonesia.[14] Government-owned insurance company Jasa Raharja stated that the relatives of the victims will be compensated for Rp65 million rupiah.[15]
Due to reports that the fire had originated from a bus, two bus drivers were immediately apprehended by the Indonesian police for further questioning.[16] Several survivors, crew members and the ship's captain were also brought to the police for further questioning. In the aftermath, the Indonesian police stated that they have not decided to charge anyone.[17] However, on 31 January, the regional police of Banten charged the captain, the ship's first mate, and a bus driver for negligence.[18] On 5 May, a trial was held by the Indonesian Court of Shipping.[19]
Investigation[]
Cause of the fire[]
Multiple survivors reported that the fire started from the back of a bus parked in the middle of the lower deck. The fire was located inside the bus. Investigators confirmed that the fire was from the said bus. The fire originated from a faulty air conditioning system. The air conditioner of the bus had been turned on by the bus driver as multiple passengers decided to stay on the bus and refused to join the other passengers in the accommodation area on the third deck, as it was more comfortable. This in turn caused a short-circuit on the wirings of the air conditioner.[1]
Progress of the fire[]
Even though the initial fire was immediately found by the ship's occupants, it wasn't contained. The fire managed to spread and contacted combustible items including the seats and the fuel of the bus, igniting an intense flame. The ship's ventilation system also contributed to the growth of the flames, as it feed more oxygen. The ship's material, which was made of steel, also managed to conduct heat more efficiently to the surrounding objects, causing the fire to spread even more rapidly. People on board had tried to extinguish the flames. However, due to the tightly parked vehicles and poor visibility, the containment was difficult and the flames eventually managed to spread quickly.[1]
The fire grew larger as an overhead fuel pipe, located directly above the bus, ignited. As the fire reached the upper deck, the plates on the upper deck melted due to the intense heat. As such, the upper deck collapsed and the fires managed to breakthrough even more, reaching as high as the fourth deck. Any remaining fuels inside the vehicles on the upper deck and lower deck then ignited, creating multiple explosions inside the vessel.[1]
The ship was actually equipped with sprinklers. However, in order to operate, the crew members had to activate the water pumps first. The water pump was located directly to the burning bus, and so the system was not activated. Crews had also used dry powders to tame the fire, however it didn't work due to the severity of the flames. There was a single fireman outfit on board, complete with its breathing apparatus. The outfit was not worn by any of the crews since the crews thought that the fire was already too intense. Investigators stated that, at the time, the fire was still containable.[1]
Crew failure[]
While the fire managed to spread through the entire ship, it was initially able to be contained. Crew members should have immediately extinguished the flames when they found it early. Mismanagement by inept crew members enabled the fire to grow quickly, causing the destruction on the ferry.[1]
There were multiple instances of crew mismanagement that led to the fire. NTSC noted that there were dozens of passengers who decided to stay on their vehicles and didn't immediately go upstairs to the designated accommodation area in the third deck. Crew members of the ship should have asked any remaining passengers and drivers on the lower deck and upper deck to leave and immediately gather at the third deck and should have been assertive to the passengers.[4] Based on a written set of rules issued by a subdivision from the Ministry of Transportation, crew members should have ordered the passengers to detach the cables connecting the car battery to their vehicles. The crews' lax attitude towards the passengers then enabled the fire. As the faulty air conditioner system was turned on, a short-circuit happened, the battery overheated and the bus eventually caught fire.[1]
The first crew member who realized that a fire had developed in the lower car deck didn't immediately warn his crewmates. When the other crew members started to realize that there was a fire on board, the lower car deck had already been filled with thick smoke, making fire-fighting effort difficult. When the captain was warned on the presence of fire aboard the ship, the captain didn't use the PA system to warn the passengers and didn't issue any alarm. As multiple explosions began to rattle the ferry, poor crowd control in the ferry caused the passengers to panic. Some passengers didn't don their life jackets as crew members didn't direct or remind the passengers to use the life jackets. There was no contingency plan and the sprinkler system was not activated immediately. Crew members also didn't frequently clean the workshop inside the ship. As such, oil stains in the workshop caused the fire to grow rapidly.[1]
The Safety Management Manual issued by the owner of MV Laut Teduh 2 stated that fire drill should be conducted at least once a month. Interviews on the crew members revealed that such training had not been conducted for at least 2 years before 28 January. The crew members didn't receive any disciplinary actions from the owner.[1]
These multiple crew management failure, including poor handling of the fire and poor crowd control management, eventually led to the uncontrollable growth of the fire and the drowning of passengers.[1]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Terbakarnya KMP. Laut Teduh-2". National Transportation Safety Committee. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "M/F Laut Teduh 2". The Ferry Site. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Laut Teduh 2 (ex. Superflex Whisky)" (in Danish). Faergelejet. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Api Diduga dari Kendaraan di Kapal" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Gunawan, Hendra. "Inilah Kronologi Petaka Terbakarnya KMP Lautan Teduh" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "KM Laut Teduh II Dikandaskan di Anyer" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Petugas Masih Sisir Perairan Anyer" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Ada 33 Mahasiswa dan Staf Unila di Feri" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Jati, Yusuf Waluyo. "Pencarian korban tenggelamnya KMP Laut Teduh dilanjutkan" (in Indonesian). Tempo. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "WAPRES DIDAMPINGI MENKES JENGUK KORBAN KMP LAUT TEDUH 2" (in Indonesian). Indonesian Ministry of Health. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Iskandar, Yoni. "Wapres Kunjungi Korban di RS Krakatau" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Pratama, Adiatmaputra Fajar. "Titah Wapres Untuk Freddy Numberi atasi Dua Kecelakaan" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Suhendi, Adi. "Menkes Sumbang Rp 50 Juta untuk Dana Operasional" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "LAPORAN SINGKAT KOMISI V DPR RI(BIDANG PERHUBUNGAN, PEKERJAAN UMUM, PERUMAHAN RAKYAT, PEMBANGUNAN PEDESAAN DAN KAWASAN TERTINGGAL, BADAN METEOROLOGI,KLIMATOLOGI, DAN GEOFISIKA, BADAN SAR NASIONAL, DAN BPLS)" (PDF) (in Indonesian). DPR. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Suhendi, Adi. "Korban Meninggal dapat Santunan Rp 65 Juta" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Suhendi, Adi. "Dua Sopir Bus Penyebab Kebakaran KMP Lautan Diperiksa" (in Indonesian). Tribun News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Ditpolair Belum Tetapkan Tersangka Kapal Terbakar" (in Indonesian). Antara News. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Polda Banten Tetapkan Tiga Tersangka" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Kasus KMP Laut Teduh 2 Mulai Disidangkan" (in Indonesian). Kompas. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
External links[]
| show Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2011 |
|---|
- Ship fires
- 2011 in Indonesia
- Maritime incidents in 2011
- Maritime incidents in Indonesia
- Transport disasters in Indonesia