JAKARTA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers are searching for 15 crew members who remain missing after a wooden cargo-ship with 27 people on board capsized in waters off Maluku in eastern Indonesia on Sunday morning, rescuers said.
The ship sank at 10 : 25 a.m. local time (0125 GMT) in the waters of central Maluku, due to poor weather condition, Agung Sedayu, press officer at the National Search and Rewscue Office told Xinhua over phone.
"The waves were huge during the accident, they sank the ship," he said.
The ship was on route from Ambon city to Nangrole town in Maluku province, said Agung.
The boat, which had 27 passengers and crew on board, went down after it was battered by waves up to five metres (16 feet) high in Maluku province, provincial search-and-rescue team head Amin Bin Tongke told AFP.
"Twelve of 27 people on board were rescued alive.
We are still looking for around 15 missing," he said.
The boat, which was also carrying food and building materials, left Ambon city late Saturday but was lashed by towering waves and strong winds two hours into its journey, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a text message.
"The boat's engine stalled and the boat broke up and sank," he added.
Indonesia's 240 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and are heavily dependent on a network of ships and boats, which have a poor safety record.
Sunday 17 June 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-06/17/c_131658536.htm
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