"This false (passenger) manifest has been repeatedly revealed during shipwrecks. This is a matter of concern for the Indonesian shipping world," Kurniawan said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - House of Representative (DPR) deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan has regretted that the Zahro Express passenger ship, which caught fire off Seribu Island, killing 23 passengers, had a fake manifest.

While conveying condolences to the families of the dead and injured victims, Kurniawan expressed his disappointment and concern over the incident.

"This false (passenger) manifest has been repeatedly revealed during shipwrecks. This is a matter of concern for the Indonesian shipping world," Kurniawan said by phone on Monday.

Local mass media reported that according to the ships passenger list there were 100 passengers, but it was actually carrying around 180 people.

Although the number of passengers did not exceed the ships capacity, Kurniawan stated, many passengers were not listed correctly in the manifest, causing problems in insurance claims.

"This serious offense had violated the standard operating procedure," he noted.

According to Kurniawan, the fake passenger list was made for personal profit. He also acknowledged that the helmsman and the ships captain had jumped overboard to save themselves, knowing that the ship was on fire.

As part of their responsibilities, the helmsman and the captain should lead evacuation procedures in case of emergencies, instead of rescuing themselves and ignoring hundreds of passengers lives.

"If the ships captain had been responsible and had assisted in the evacuation, the number of victims may not have been so much," Kurniawan stated.

The death toll in of the mishap, which occurred off the waters of Seribu Island at 9 am Western Indonesia Standard Time, on Sunday morning, rose to 23.

While 194 others have been saved, 17 passengers are still missing, Seply Madreta, an officer at the Disaster Mitigation and Control Operation Center, confirmed to Antara.

Kurniawan urged the police and the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) and the National Transportation Safety Commission (KNKT) to immediately focus on rescue efforts and investigate the cause of the fire.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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