Rescue teams in Indonesia are racing against time to find 27 people believed to be adrift on a raft after their boat sank in rough seas. The vessel, Nazila 05, departed from Taliabu port in North Maluku province on Sunday evening, heading for Kema in North Sulawesi, before sinking north of Taliabu Island.
Muhammad Rizal, head of the search and rescue office in Palu city, said the boat's owner reported that high waves broke the vessel's bow, causing it to sink. All 27 people on board evacuated using a longboat before the ship went down, but their current location remains unknown.
Relatives have indicated that the passengers tied themselves to a raft. The National Search and Rescue Agency has dispatched a rescue vessel to the estimated location, where the raft is thought to be drifting in choppy waters. An inflatable boat and local fishermen are also assisting in the search.
The Nazila 05 was commonly used for transporting tourists and was also known as a fishing or small passenger vessel. Boat accidents are frequent in Indonesia, an archipelago of over 17,000 islands, where maritime transport is common but often plagued by lax safety standards and overcrowding.
