AP News, January 5th, 2007
Survivors from an Indonesian ferry that sank in stormy weather recalled desperate days adrift at sea Friday, as hopes faded of finding alive some 400 people still missing a week after the ship went down.
Ahmad Rifai said he and 14 other survivors on a life raft spotted land three times, but high waves prevented them from paddling to shore. They survived on rain water during five days at sea before washing up on an island hundreds of miles from where the ferry sank.
"I never believed I would still be alive," said the 35-year-old plantation worker as he recovered in a hospital in the coastal city of Surabaya. "We were frequently almost pummeled to death by the heavy waves."
Rifai was rescued Wednesday and since then no survivors have been found. Search planes have only spotted life vests and empty boats, leading one rescue official to say he doubted that more people would be found alive in the tropical waters.
"Looking at the weather I feel it will be difficult to find more survivors," said Mohammad Hernanto, the Surabaya search and rescue chief. "Especially since they have been thrown around in the sea without food and water."
A government investigator said Thursday she suspected the waves washed into the car deck and became trapped there, causing the vessel to capsize. Similar accidents have occurred on other "roll-on, roll-off" ferries around the world, leading to calls for a change in their design.
Indonesia has been wracked in recent weeks by seasonal storms that have triggered deadly landslides, flooding and at least six maritime accidents in different parts of the sprawling archipelago. A jetliner with 102 people on board also disspeared in heavy winds and is still missing.
The Senopati Nusantara was sailing from Borneo Island to the country's main island of Java when it sank just before midnight Friday after being pounded by waves of up to 12 feet high for several hours.
More than 400 people are dead or missing and about 220 others have been rescued, including the captain.
Rifai said he saw two adults and two children hugging each other on the deck of the sinking ferry before jumping into the sea.
"It seemed they wanted to die together," he said. "They kept repeating 'God is Great!' Their bodies sunk quickly."
