Tourist boat sinks in Indonesia

Ten tourists and five Indonesians are missing after a boat capsized sailing between Indonesian islands.

FIFTEEN people, including 10 foreign tourists, are missing after a boat travelling from Lombok to Komodo Island sank in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Australian officials are urgently seeking to confirm whether any citizens are among the missing.

Ten others from Europe and New Zealand survived and were plucked from the water by two boats, including a fishing boat.

The boat, a type of wooden Phinisi schooner, called Versace Amara, is understood to have hit a reef although rescue officials late on Sunday gave differing versions of what exactly had happened to the vessel.

And they could not confirm the nationalities of the 10 tourists who are still missing. It is believed that the four crew and the guide are Indonesian.

Ordeal ... Survivors who were rescued after their tourist boat sank off the coast of Indonesia rest at a house near Bima. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Suryaman, the Search and rescue co-ordinator at Bima, on Sumbawa island, said the boat appeared to have hit a reef about 1.15am (local time) on Saturday morning, causing a serious leak.

Suryaman said that the crew tried to bring the boat to land but bad weather prevented them, and at about 7pm on Saturday the boat, which had been filing with water, capsized.

At about 8pm, local fishermen found five people in the water and saved them. Another five were saved by a different boat and all are now in hospital in Bima, on Sumbawa Island.

A further 15 from the boat are still missing, including 10 tourists, four crew and one tourist guide.

"A tourist boat with 25 people on board capsized while sailing from Lombok island to Komodo island," said Budiawan, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.

"We rescued 10 foreigners, while 10 other foreigners and five Indonesians remain missing. We launched a search operation as soon as we received the report this morning (Sunday)."

"The incident took place ... when the boat hit a reef and sank. Fishermen managed to rescue five of them alive later at night on Saturday, and five other foreigners were rescued by a sailing boat," Budiawan told AFP.

Recovering ... Ten foreign tourists and five Indonesian crew were missing after a boat sank between islands in the east of the country, while 10 others had been rescued, search and rescue officials said. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The survivors include a 29-year-old and 53-year-old Dutch woman, two 21-year-old German women, a 33-year-old French man, a male and female from Spain, A British woman, a male and female from New Zealand.

They were named as Els Visser, 29, from the Netherlands, Hannah Schole, 21, from Germany, Norensch Wickhow, 21 from Germany, Cayleng Cheryl, 53 from the Netherlands, Hommasel Betrand, 33 from France, Rafael Martinez from Spain, Maria Pallol, from Spain, a British woman known only as Katherine Anne, Tony Francis Lawton and Gaylene Cheryl Wilkinson from New Zealand.

Survivors ... Those rescued were from New Zealand, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France, said Budiawan, a search and rescue official. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The names were provided by authorities on the scene late on Sunday night.

The Bima police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Benny Basir Warmansyah said the accident happened in the waters of Sangeang, near Seangeang Mountain.

He said the boat was on the way from Senggigi on Lombok to Labuhan Bajo when it was hit by a wave.

Lt Col Warmansyah said the nationalities of those foreigners still missing was not clear.

Phinisi schooners regularly ply the eastern Indonesian waters, taking tourists diving and between the islands which form the Nusa Tenggara region.

Boat capsized ... The vessel hit a reef and went down on August 16, 2014 en route from Lombok island to Komodo island. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

A DFAT spokesperson said the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and the Australian Consulate-General in Bali were urgently seeking details from local authorities to learn whether any Australians were on board.

"Any Australians who have concerns for the welfare of family or friends in the region should attempt to directly contact them," the spokesperson said.

Disaster ... the tourist boat with 25 on board hit a reef and capsized near Bima, Indonesia. Source: Supplied

Surfing charters are popular in the area where the boat sank, with many operating from Lombok and along reefs found near the islands.

The charters typically are for several days aboard boats which carry up to 25 passengers, plus crew.

The boats travel to surf breaks, such as Nusa, where surfers are dropped near the breaks before being collected.

They usually eat and sleep aboard the boats as they travel between the islands and the surfing locations.

The boat was making its way to Komodo Island, internationally famous for its Komodo dragons.

Indonesia relies heavily on boats to connect its more than 17,000 islands, but has a poor maritime safety record.

Two vessels sank last month in different parts of the archipelago as millions travelled for the Muslim Eid holiday, leaving at least 36 people dead.

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