Valencia Coach Tragedy in Labuan Bajo: Safety Aspects of Transportation Must be a Priority in Superpremium Tourist Areas

JAKARTA - The incident of the KM Putri Sakinah tourist boat accident in the waters of Padar Island, Komodo Islands, where one of the victims was the family of the coach of the Valencia B women's football team, Martin Carreras Fernando, made Indonesia's name a spotlight for reasons that are not pleasant.

Komodo Island offers beautiful attractions that attract many tourists from various countries. However, Martin Carreras Fernando's vacation (44), along with his wife Ortuna Andrea, and their four children, namely Martin Garcia Mateo, Martines Ortuno Maria Lia, Martines Ortuno Enriquejavier, and Mar Martinez Ortuno, ended in grief.

That night, Friday (26/12/2025), after enjoying Komodo Island, Fernando's family was on the KM Putri Sakinah heading to Padar Island. The Spanish tourist was accompanied by a tour guide and four crew members.

Because the most appropriate time to enjoy the beauty of Padar Island is when the sun rises, many tourists, including Fernando's family, charter a boat to sail to Padar Island at night. They sleep on the boat, then climb to the top of Padar in the morning.

However, unfortunately, only 30 minutes after the ship sailed, the engine of the KM Putri Sakinah suddenly died. When he lost control, he was tossed around by high waves, then sank.

Fernando and his three children, namely Martin Garia Mateo, Martines Ortuno Maria Lia, and Martines Ortuno Enriquejavier were declared missing in the incident. Meanwhile, his wife and one of his children, Mar Martinez Ortuno, survived with the crew and tour guides.

The moment of Christmas vacation that should have given him a beautiful memory, instead became a nightmare for Fernando's wife, Ortuno Andrea.

The number of tourists visiting Komodo Island continues to increase year by year, especially after Komodo was designated as one of the seven wonders of the world by the Swiss Open World Corporation in 2013. Hotels, homestays, and residents' houses are transformed into places to stay for tourists.

Travel to Komodo Island is also claimed to be a superpremium tour, because the price is relatively expensive compared to other destinations.

However, behind its beauty, the tourist area of Labuan Bajo and its surroundings repeatedly gives tourists grief, namely related to accidents in the waters that always repeat.

The accident that befell the Fernando family was not the first, and probably not the last.

In January 2024, an accident occurred on the KM Alfatran. The cruise ship was carrying six passengers, five foreign tourists, four crew members, and a tour guide. The KM Alfatran sank while sailing from Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island. In the incident, everyone was safe after being evacuated by a joint rescue team.

From 2024 to December 2025, at least 15 tourist ship accidents were recorded in the waters of Labuan Bajo and its surroundings.

In 2024 alone, more than eight major incidents occurred, even by mid-year there were seven ship accidents. Entering 2025, the West Manggarai Police recorded five incidents in the period from January to July.

The causes of ship accidents are diverse, ranging from fires, leaking ships, to bad weather.

A week before the incident experienced by the Fernando family, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had issued an early warning of bad weather for December 22-26, 2025. Komodo waters and Labuan Bajo destinations are included in areas affected by bad weather.

However, one of the causes of ship accidents in the waters of Labuan Bajo and its surroundings is also due to the wrong construction of the ship.

Many stories that business actors buy wooden boats belonging to local fishermen, who then modify the ship's space ignoring the balance. It is not uncommon to be modified into a ship with 2-3 levels.

The modification is aimed at increasing the capacity of the ship. This is actually dangerous because it makes the ship easy to sway, then turn over when a strong wind suddenly arrives.

Maritime observer Marcellus Hakeng Jayawibawa said that repeated accidents were not only caused by bad weather or individual negligence, but were a reflection of a system that had not been fully built.

"From fragile governance, and from policy choices that too often put safety as a variable that can be negotiated," said Hakeng.

Reflecting on the incident in the waters of Labuan Bajo since last year, Hakeng does not consider this as mere statistics. For him, this is a trace of collective failure. In the study of transport safety, when accidents occur repeatedly, they are no longer called disasters, but indicate that we are dealing with structural signs.

"From here, the first homework is clear: the failure to read the pattern and the failure to make bitter experiences the foundation of systemic change," he said.

In addition, Hakeng also highlighted a more cultural problem, namely the fragility of the safety culture. According to him, safety has not yet fully become a shared value, but is perceived as an additional cost.

"In short-term economic logic," Hakeng said, "the pressure to stay the course for the sake of schedules, market demand, or a tourist boom often trumps prudence."

For this reason, Hakeng encourages a thorough improvement, starting with a change in perspective. Safety should not be seen as an obstacle to development, but rather a prerequisite. Without safety, economic growth and tourism only stand on a fragile foundation.

Labuan Bajo with the iconic komodo reptile is already global. Tourists who come not only from within the country, but also from abroad. The safety aspect of tourist transportation should be a basic thing that cannot be bargained. Janga until the accident that keeps repeating is actually tarnishing the big name of this superpremium tourism.