AirAsia Jet Not First Java Sea Casualty
The AirAsia jet that crashed on December 28 is the latest in a string of tragedies that has beset the Java Sea this century.
The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. It is a shallow sea, with an average depth of 46 metres (151 feet), and many people have lost their lives there.
Another jet, Adam Air Flight 574, crashed into the Makassar Strait on 1 January 2007. All 102 people on board died. On investigation, it was shown that the pilots lost control of the aircraft after they became preoccupied with troubleshooting the inertial navigation system and inadvertently disconnected the autopilot.
Passenger ships have also been lost. In November 2009, the ferry Dumai Express 10 sank in rough seas off the coast of Sumatra. Although more than 200 people were rescued, over 30 died or remain missing. The ferry was hit by a large wave that split the starboard side of the ship, causing it to take on water rapidly and sink about 20 minutes later.
In February 2007, the Levina 1 caught fire forcing hundreds of passengers to jump into the Java Sea. Over 290 people were rescued, but over 50 died. The fire started in a truck on the car deck. It is believed to have been a chemical fire, as the ship’s crew reported that when they attempted to douse the tarpaulin-covered truck with water, the ferocity of the fire increased.
The tragedy didn’t end there. After the fire had been extinguished and the vessel was under tow, a party of four investigators and twelve journalists were taken to the ship. Many did not put on lifevests although they had been available. The ferry was already listing slightly and shortly afterwards it suddenly listed sharply, causing a hasty evacuation that left four people dead or missing and another four seriously injured.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
In December 2006, the ferry Senopati Nusantara sank in a storm, and at least 400 people are believed to have drowned, although estimates vary. Five days after the event, 12 survivors (11 men and a six-year-old boy) were found on an unmanned oil rig 300 km (190 miles) away. Another six people were later found on the island of Java after being adrift for days without food.
There are many more Java Sea tragedies involving fire, storms and war stretching back in time including the U.S. Navy’s Houston, sunk by the Japanese during World War II. The vessel may still hold the remains of as many as 700 American sailors and marines who went down with the ship. It joined over 20 other ships that sank in the Java Sea during World War II.
