PNG ferry reported lost 350 missing or dead

PNG ferry reported lost

By PNG correspondent Liam Fox
Updated February 02, 2012 15:01:19
Map: Papua New Guinea



An Australian search and rescue plane is on its way to Papua New Guinea to help find a ferry that is believed to have sunk, possibly with hundreds of people on board.
The MV Rabaul Queen disappeared while travelling from Kimbe on the island of New Britain to Lae on Papua New Guinea's mainland.
The ferry's operator Rabaul Shipping says it lost contact with the ferry early this morning.
An employee says the company has not confirmed how many people are on board, but a source close to the search and rescue operation says there could be up to 350.
PNG's national disaster centre says two helicopters and a ship have been dispatched to search the area in addition to the two search and rescue vessels sent out by the country's National Maritime Safety Authority.
The Australian High Commission says the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has joined the effort to find the ferry.
A spokesman says the authority has sent a plane from Cairns that can drop life rafts into the water.
The Department of Foreign Affairs says the ferry's owners do not believe foreigners were onboard, however consular are still seeking official confirmation.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Government is working to identify whether any Australians were on board the stricken ferry.
Regular ferry services run to Kimbe, a popular dive site that attracts tourists from across the world.
Topics: maritime, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, papua-new-guinea
First posted February 02, 2012 13:29:53

^Sounds like a Filipino headline.

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Scores missing after PNG ferry sinks

By PNG correspondent Liam Fox and staff
Fifty people have been rescued from a ferry that has sunk off Papua New Guinea but hundreds more remain missing.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says the MV Rabaul Queen, with about 350 people on board, went down 16 kilometres off the coast of Finschhafen, which is about 80 kilometres from its final destination of Lae.
Police in Kimbe, where the ferry sailed from, say most of the passengers were students and trainee teachers.


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PNG ferry sinking - 219 people rescued from disaster of coast of New Britain

• From: AAP
• February 02, 2012 5:54PM

RESCUERS have saved 219 survivors from waters off Papua New Guinea after a ferry sinking.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said as of 4.30pm AEDT eight merchant vessels were at the scene of the sinking and five had recovered survivors.

"There are reported to be 219 survivors on these five vessels," AMSA said on its website.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/bre...-1226261142421

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UPDATE 6.18pm: RESCUERS have saved 219 survivors from waters off Papua New Guinea after a ferry sinking. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said as of 4.30pm AEDT eight merchant vessels were at the scene of the sinking and five had recovered survivors.

"There are reported to be 219 survivors on these five vessels," AMSA said on its website.

As many as 350 people were believed to be on the MV Rabaul Queen when it went down between Lae and the West New Britain town of Kimbe on Thursday morning.

Rescue co-ordinator Captain Nurur Rahman said he could not confirm the total number.

"I cannot confirm or deny the 350 missing number, it is hearsay," he said.

"I have not seen the manifest as yet, but it is likely around 300."


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Related Coverage

• Hundreds rescued from ferry Adelaide Now, 1 hour ago
• Hundreds rescued after PNG ferry sinks The Australian, 1 hour ago
• Rescuers pull 219 from PNG waters The Daily Telegraph, 1 hour ago
• PNG ferry sinking - 219 people rescued Herald Sun, 1 hour ago
• Dozens drown in dual boat disasters Adelaide Now, 1 hour ago

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.



Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia would help in any way it could.

"I spoke to my counterpart, PNG Foreign Minister Ano Pala, earlier today to inform him that Australia stands ready to offer all necessary assistance," Mr Rudd said in a statement.

AMSA said its dedicated search and rescue Dornier aircraft based in Cairns had also arrived on the scene.

Further search planes have also been deployed to the scene, including an Australian Defence Force P3C Orion aircraft and AMSA's Darwin-based Dornier.

The aircraft are assisting with dropping rescue equipment, including life rafts.

AMSA says it is further assisting the PNG Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre by providing search area planning and drift modelling.

The Australian High Commission in Port Moresby is seeking to confirm whether any Australians were on board the vessel.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the shipping company had advised them there were unlikely to be any foreigners on board.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard earlier said there was likely to be a very high loss of life from the tragedy.

"This is obviously a major tragedy," she said.

"We have been asked to provide assistance to PNG and we are providing assistance to PNG."

The coalition said it supported the government's decision to help in the search for survivors.

"It is vital that every effort is made to locate and rescue any of the people in the water," foreign affairs spokeswoman Julia Bishop said.

"The coalition extends its sympathies to the families of those on board the MV Rabaul Queen and extends its support to the efforts of PNG and Australian rescuers."

If PNG is anything like the Philippines, they likely have absolutely no fucking idea how many people were on that ferry, or who many of them are/were. Last one that went down here had 280 on the manifest, and over 600 on board. They rescued almost 200 more than were manifested.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

If PNG is anything like the Philippines,

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Worse.

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Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

If PNG is anything like the Philippines,

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Worse.

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Figures. The PNG Ambassador to the Philippines a few years ago, a former high-ranking PNG police officer, was kicked out of the country for head-butting a dancer who wouldn't sit with him.

Search resumes for 100 PNG ferry passengers

From: AAP February 04, 2012 11:30AM

THE search has resumed for more than 100 passengers feared dead after the MV Rabaul Queen sank in rough waters off the coast of Papua new Guinea.

More than 240 survivors have been taken to PNG's second largest city Lae after the ferry sank about nine nautical miles north-east of Cape Fortification in the Vitiaz Strait.

PNG's National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) General Manager, Chris Rupen, says the search for survivors is "ongoing" after it was briefly called off on Thursday night due to rough weather.

Three Australian aircraft and six vessels are involved.

"The NMSA will continue to coordinate search and rescue efforts in earnest in hopes of finding the remaining passengers," Mr Rupen said.

"This incident would be recorded as one of the worst sea accident involving large passenger numbers and there is concern for the 100 plus passengers who are still unaccounted for."

Survivors on Friday told harrowing accounts of the vessel apparently capsizing during an eight-hour overnight journey from Kimbe in West Britain to Lae.

Authorities say there were 350 people on board and 12 crew.

Speaking from her hospital bed in Lae, Alice Kakamara, 30, told AAP she had been on the top deck. "The sea was really rough, windy, big waves," she said. "The boat tilted once, then twice then three times and it went over. There was oil everywhere."

Ms Kakamara said she almost gave up but was saved by her 11-year-old nephew William, who urged her to keep going.

"We found a lifeboat, but it was sinking. I put him in another [boat] and I haven't seen him, but my relatives say he is now with them."

Seven people were taken to Lae's Angau hospital, three with serious injuries.

Doctors say four of the survivors ingested oil and other hazardous chemicals as they struggled to get out of the upturned vessel.

Communications were hampered in Lae last night, following a near total mobile and home phone blackout between 3pm and 1am AEST on Friday.

Search resumes for 100 PNG ferry passengers | Herald Sun

Australians to head PNG ferry inquiry

• From: AFP
• February 13, 2012 10:12AM

THE Australian Maritime Safety Authority will conduct a probe into the sinking of the ferry MV Rabaul Queen off the coast of Papua New Guinea which killed over 100 people.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says his government chose Australian investigators because of their experience.

"We can't engage our own people, mainly because they will be subjected to the investigation too,'' Mr O'Neill told the Port Moresby based Post Courier newspaper.

"Those that are found to be negligent in this disaster will face the law, this is the biggest and worst sea disaster we have had in the country."

The MV Rabaul Queen sank in rough seas two weeks ago with 350 people on board while travelling overnight from Kimbe in West New Britain province to Lae, the nation's second largest city.

Authorities say 246 people survived.

Mr O'Neill said his government would also consider asking the government of Japan for help in bringing the wreckage to the surface, after it sank in water more than a kilometre deep.

"The Japanese have the technology to do that kind of work," he said.
Australians to head PNG ferry inquiry | Herald Sun