Indonesia

Society

The KMP Mutiara Sentosa II fire occurred only a month after a ferry carrying more than 70 passengers sank while sailing near Selayar, a small island off South Sulawesi.

Plumes of smoke rise from the Mutiara Sentosa II, a ferry which caught fire on Aug. 2 off Madura Island in East Java province. (Reuters/Stringer)

Concerns are mounting over safety oversight in Indonesia’s maritime sector after a passenger ferry caught fire off the coast of Madura, East Java, killing at least five people and leaving two others missing.The KMP Mutiara Sentosa II, which operates a route between Surabaya, East Java, and Makassar, South Sulawesi, caught fire at around 6 a.m. on Sunday. The vessel was carrying 236 passengers, mostly logistics truck drivers, along with 39 crew members.