JAKARTA - The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) suspects that the cause of the sinking of KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya in the Bali Strait on Wednesday (2/7) night was due to the opening of the engine door so that sea water entered.
Acting Head of the Sub-Committee for Shipping Safety of the KNKT Anggiat PTP Pandiangan explained that sea water entered through the door on the deck which should have been closed when the ship was sailing.
The door is an access to the engine room, and when the sea waves reach an altitude of 2 to 3 meters, the water easily enters and causes the ship to tilt to the right.
"So on the deck from this ship there is access to the engine room. So at that time it was in an open condition so that water entered through the door, causing the ship to tilt to the right," said Acting (Plt) Chairperson of the KNKT Shipping Safety Sub-Committee Anggiat PTP Pandiangan at the Commission V DPR Working Meeting reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 8.
This type of ship has a low "freeboard", so that when the ship's load is overloaded, the ship's water will increase and sea water will easily enter the deck if the door is not tightly closed while sailing.
Anggiat emphasized that the deck door should always be closed during shipping to prevent incidents like this.
"And the condition of the cargo on board will also add to the ship's flooding so as to reduce the freeboard as well. And indeed this door should always be closed when sailing," he explained.
During the working meeting, the Chairman of Commission V of the House of Representatives, Lasarus, who chaired the meeting, asked whether this disaster could be prevented if the engine doors were closed, and Anggiat answered most likely.
"This means that the main problem is at this door. If this door is closed, this does not happen because the first incoming water comes from there," asked Chairman of Commission V DPR RI Lasarus.
"Yes, sir," answered Anggiat.
However, the NTSC will also investigate other factors such as overload and will explore the exact cause through further investigations
"We will still examine it, explore it," added Anggiat.
Anggiat revealed the chronology of the sinking of KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya in the Bali Strait which was collected based on information from the crew and passengers of the ship who survived, first on July 2, 2025, at 22.15 WIB, the process of loading vehicles at Ketapang Port, Banyuwangi, East Java.
At 22:45 WIB, the loading process was completed. Then at 22.51 WIB, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya began to leave for Gilimanuk Port, Bali.
"When the ship departs, there is no anomaly or unusual slope or circumstances. Then also the engine operates normally, visibility or visibility is also quite good, there is no rain and not foggy," explained Anggiat.
However, after about 30 minutes of shipping, the guard at the bridge felt the ship's tilt to the right. Then, the guard driver and the caretaker saw the sea water entering the engine room through the engine room door.
"The spokesman for the guard oil who is also in the engine room saw the same thing. So we confirmed the information we received from the helmsman and the oil interpreter, so we stated the same thing," he explained.
Then the oil interpreter immediately ran out of the engine room. Meanwhile, the guard team ordered the crew to help passengers wear a life jacket and prepare for evacuation.
Meanwhile, the captain who was resting at that time was immediately woken up by the guard sub-district.
Then the captain immediately took over the wheel and emitted fake news on the 16th radio frequency.
Vehicles at the back of the ship shifted and rested to the right where it caused the ship to continue to increase its right tilt.
"At first, it was still slowly accelerating. A few minutes after the emergency call, the ship began sinking with the stern condition or the back of the ship sinking first while tilting to the right," he explained.
Several other nearby ships had difficulty helping the evacuation of KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya due to dark conditions.
The Gilimanuk I and Tunuh Pratama 3888 ships, which were also around the location, tried to highlight the lights towards Tunu Pratama Jaya, but had difficulty identifying floating objects because they were dark.
KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, which carried 53 passengers and 12 crew members and 22 vehicles, had a sea accident and drowned in the Bali Strait.
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