Chartered surf boats can come in all shapes and sizes. Photo: Philipp Meiners//Unsplash
As reports emerged about a missing small vessel carrying surfers in the Indonesian archipelago, I naturally got flashbacks to my own experience during a surf trip on a nearby island.
As our crew was motoring back to camp to catch the last glimmers of light before they disappeared below the horizon, our motors suddenly cut out. The engine issues actually weren’t that rare of an occurrence, but this time our crew member appeared to be struggling to get them back to life.
Darkness enveloped the ocean as we silently drifted in the calm seas for about twenty minutes. While the crew member eventually succeeded in reviving the engines and safely guiding us back without light, those long moments of floating gave me plenty of time to reflect.
I couldn’t help but think about how easily this minor hiccup could have turned disastrous. The boat we were on didn’t carry any radio or GPS gear. There was no cell service. We were still a few miles from camp and far from any civilization. If we kept on drifting, no one would be able to find us in the dark. And if we took our chances paddling to the nearest island, we would have had to navigate strong currents and the razor-sharp coral reefs in the pitch black.
We weren’t too far from land. Even a simple walkie-talkie that can be purchased for less than $100 could have been a huge help. Admittedly, there are a lot of factors involved here, economics certainly being one, but the safety standards seemed almost non-existent.
The situation that I was in at that moment was nothing compared to what the Australian surfers and their Indonesian friends experienced last week. They were crossing a 30-mile channel of open ocean from Nias to Pinang. Like the boat that I was on, reports say their boat also didn’t have any radio or GPS.
Miraculously, all four of the missing surfers and two of the crew were rescued after a sudden storm filled their boat with water. However, tragically, one of the Indonesian boat guides is still missing, presumed deceased as the search has been called off.
It was a tragedy that might have been avoidable if the location of the wreck could have been pinpointed sooner.
After following this story and thinking back on my personal experiences, I wondered if this lack of safety protocol is standard in the area, or if these examples were the exception.
The survivors of the boating accident clearly think this is a systemic problem. They recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the missing person’s family and to “enhance maritime safety in the region,” among other things.
I did a bit of digging myself and chatted with stakeholders in the region – surf camp owners, surf guides, and frequent visitors – to understand boat safety experiences and protocol in Indonesia.
The resort owners, guests, and guides who responded, all wished to remain anonymous.
“It’s a bit Wild West out here on these islands,” one resort owner told me. “There are improvements in infrastructure and safety every year, which is amazing, but we’re not all there yet. This place is raw and adventurous, that’s part of the appeal. I personally hope incidents like this will inspire more resorts to invest in safety. It’s essential.”
“We have a radio connection on our boats, but it took us a while to get it, as well,” they added. “The financials definitely play a part and the understanding of the technology. The truth is that a lot of resorts get started on a shoestring budget and profit margins are very tough out here. It took us a while to get towards all of these investments ourselves. But it’s not something anyone should compromise on, as safety should be the highest priority. There’s a false sense of security when roaming around the waters by boat. There are incidents happening far too often. As soon as there’s travel on the open ocean, like where the incident happened, the risk is so much higher. Even though commonly done, the standard wooden resort boats are usually not well-equipped for those kinds of crossings.”
For those who have never been on a surf trip to the barrier islands of Sumatra such as Nias, Mentawais, etc. – most trips commence from the mainland port cities like Padang or Sibolga. There are ferry services a few days a week that will take you from Sumatra to various drop off points in the outer islands, and from there your surf camp, or privately arranged transportation, will take you to your destination via small wooden boats. Daily surf trips are done in these small wooden boats, traversing around the remote web of islands, usually remaining relatively close to land. It’s important to understand the absolute remote nature of these trips. The closest hospitals are back in Padang, a half day’s journey away, at best – longer if conditions are not ideal.
Another surf camp owner that I spoke to explained the safety set up on their boats.
“The boats the resorts and surf camp are using here don’t have the GPS because they are only cruising around the (local) area close to the coast,” said the camp owner. “But with the boats I have I wouldn’t be allowed to do (long distance crossings), like to Padang, for example. There are some requirements needed: life jackets on board, a captain with a proper license, GPS, and radio. You also have to ask the harbor master permission to leave plus you must report all the passengers on board.”
While I was able to find some resorts with higher safety standards than others, the owners all agreed that a long distance channel crossing, like the one where the recent tragedy occurred, would be precarious without proper gear.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to aid the family of missing crew member, Fifan Satria.
Three surf guides who were consulted all confirmed that the resorts they worked at didn’t equip their short distance boats with such equipment.
“The short answer is yes, it is normal (to use boats without that safety equipment),” one surf guide told me. “But like everything, you get what you pay for. Boats to charter can range in prices, but the good ones always have all precautionary equipment.”
“I never saw a boat with GPS or radio,” another resort guide and guest explained. “Most boats are super flimsy and not equipped for anything beyond the little area they are in. I heard a story of folks traveling from Nias to the Mentawais on a tiny boat, so clearly it’s a thing people do.”
It’s still unclear if the boat in question was chartered directly by the surfers or provided by the surf resort that they were headed to on Pinang Island. The Pinang Island resort did, however, recently put out a statement on its Instagram outlining the rather drastic measures that it’s taking after the accident. Part of the post reads:
“We want to assure our community that we are taking decisive action. We are temporarily ceasing all resort activities until the necessary steps have been taken to prevent such incidents from happening again and enhance safety protocols of any connecting marine vessels to Pinang Island so that every journey is as safe as possible, adhering to robust safety standards.”
Pinang Island resort did not respond to request for clarification on the association of the transfer boat and any safety requirements in place.
It’s easy to sit behind a keyboard thousands of miles away and criticize safety standards. But perhaps this is also an inherent risk surfers face when they travel to remote locations. The equipment necessary to ensure a safe journey is likely not affordable to many who provide such services.
But without putting the blame on anyone, I undoubtedly noticed the loose nature of the safety standards from my personal experience. Tragedies, like what happened last week, seemed more like a disaster waiting to happen than an unfortunate accident. The passengers on the damaged boat were unlucky, but it could have happened to anyone.
At least it appears that the international attention that this particular incident received is incentivizing real change and improvements to safety standards. Let’s hope that other surf resorts throughout Indonesia, and the world for that matter, are taking notice as well.
