Sonali Tiwary
TITLE: Ferry Fire in Lombok Strait Kills One, Second Deadly Incident in Ten Days
James Scooth was floating in the Lombok Strait when the KM Putri Yasmin caught fire around dawn on Wednesday, 12 August 2026. He had evacuated the ferry, which was traveling from Padangbai port in Bali to Lembar port in Lombok. He told 7News: “Everyone panics and just rips out their life jackets. No lifeboats, no boats… I was just floating. Four hours or something.”
A 19-year-old Indonesian woman did not survive. Local police and search-and-rescue authorities reported that her life jacket was damaged. The ferry’s manifest listed 114 passengers and 17 crew members, plus 44 vehicles and 53 motorcycles. The fire broke out around dawn on Wednesday, local time.
Indonesian authorities deployed more than 200 rescue and evacuation personnel, including navy ships, patrol boats, rescue vessels, and a helicopter for aerial survey. The Lombok Strait had waves reaching up to 4 metres. Muhammad Hariyadi, head of the Mataram Search and Rescue Office, said his office had “deployed some boats to carry out the evacuation and coordinate with other boats surrounding the location of the incident,” and that “our top priority is the safety of all passengers and crew members.” At least two Australians, including Scooth, were among those brought ashore.
Rescue figures and the manifest do not match. ABC reported that at least 212 people had been evacuated to ports in Bali and Lombok. Other outlets reported 172 survivors brought ashore. The manifest listed 131 people. Nanang Sigit, who heads the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office, has identified such discrepancies as a common problem in Indonesia: manifests routinely undercount the actual number aboard ferries, which complicates casualty accounting and search operations.
A second ferry fire occurred in the same period. On 2 August 2026—ten days earlier—the ferry Mutiara Sentosa 2 caught fire between Surabaya in East Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi. At least five people died. Ahmad Abdul Karim, a survivor, said: “Someone came up from the lower deck and told us there was a fire. When we went down to check, two vehicles were already burning.” He added that “fanned by the wind, the flames spread extremely quickly. In less than 30 minutes, everyone had been instructed to move to the bow of the ferry.” Another survivor, Azhari, said: “There was no other option for us but to jump into the sea.” The Mutiara Sentosa 2 was also carrying vehicles in its hold.
The cause of the Putri Yasmin fire remains unknown. The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) is investigating. After the August 2 fire, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said: “First we need to determine the cause based on KNKT’s findings.” He stated the government would review the operator’s performance once the investigation was complete.
The Padangbai-to-Lembar crossing has seen maritime incidents before. In July 2025, the ferry KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank minutes after departure on the same route.
The Putri Yasmin fire occurred in the Lombok Strait before dawn on 12 August. One person died. Rescue personnel brought survivors ashore in numbers that exceeded the ferry’s manifest. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
