While Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee has yet to release any formal report on the cause of a fire that broke out onboard the 15,400-gt ferry Mutiara Persada III (built 1991) on 9 April, local media reports claim that initial indications from investigators point to the blaze starting in one of the cars on the vessel’s vehicle deck.
The Mutiara Persada III, which is operated by ferry company PT Atosim Lampung Pelayaran, was en route from Tanjong Priok to Panjang with 76 passengers when a fire broke out on the car deck.
